McLafferty rearrangement facts for kids
The McLafferty rearrangement is an organic reaction seen in mass spectrometry. A mass spectrometer breaks apart the molecule being studied. The molecule breaks apart in consistent ways that chemists can predict. Most of the time, a carbon-carbon bond breaks and the atoms do not jump across the break between the fragments. The McLafferty rearrangement is an example of a hydrogen atom jumping to the other fragment as a part of the process of the bond breaking. It happens in an organic molecule containing a keto-group.
The reaction
The American chemist Fred McLafferty was the first to describe the reaction in 1959.
The keto-group undergoes β-cleavage, with the gain of the γ-hydrogen atom. This rearrangement may take place by a radical or ionic mechanism.
Related pages
- International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. "McLafferty rearrangement". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet edition.
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McLafferty rearrangement Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.