NONRESONANT MULTIPHOTON IONIZATION OF CYCLOPENTANE AND ITS HETEROCYCLIC-ANALOGS

We report non-resonant multiphoton ionization time-of-flight mass spec tra for cyclopentane, tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrothiophene and pyrroli dine for 355 nm excitation over a wide range of laser intensities. Unl ike the corresponding three-membered ring system, there is little depe ndence of the fragmentation pathways upon the laser intensity. The res ults also indicate that the mechanisms for the molecules studied canno t be generalized and are not necessarily related to those of the three -membered rings.