[[V]]

I am taking first year o-chem. We are starting IR spectra, Mass Spectra and NMR shortly. I have read and completed 'Organic Chemistry as a Second Language' I am comfortable with all the ideas of different types of H, C, Stereochemistry,Regiochemistry,resonance,induction,electronegativities,orbitals, SN1,SN2, E1,E2.

I found a book called A Beginners Guide to Mass Spectral Interpretation. After the second page I am completely lost.

I am about a month into my first semester of o-chem. I have never done anything like mass spectra. Can you please recommend some good readings and practice for someone at my level that I can teach myself before we hit this in class?

Thank you.

[Alberto_Kravina]

"McLafferty interpretation of mass spectra" is a good book, however, for the beginning, I'd just take mass spectra of simple molecules (Water, Methanol, NF3) and get familiar with isotope distributions and fragmentations (which may be unintuitive since they are not always running in the typical "OC-way"). The best thing is learning by doing, I think it should be no problem to find mass spectra of simple molecules by just googlin' them.

hope it helps for the beginning