Loss of isocyanic acid from the internal oxadiazole ring of protonated molecules of some 2,5-diaryl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles.

The fragmentation pattern of some protonated 2,5-diaryl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles is discussed. An unusual decomposition consisting of elimination of the isocyanic acid molecule from the internal oxadiazole ring was found. This fragmentation pathway was deduced on the basis of B/E linked scan mass spectra of metastable ions with liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry as the ionization method and also of low-energy CID mass spectra where electrospray was used as the ionization technique. High resolution measurements were also performed. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.