The formation of molecular ions

When the vaporized organic sample passes into the ionization chamber of a mass spectrometer, it is bombarded by a stream of electrons. These electrons have a high enough energy to knock an electron off an organic molecule to form a positive ion. This ion is called the molecular ion - or sometimes the parent ion. The molecular ion is often given the symbol M+ or M⋅+- the dot in this second version represents the fact that somewhere in the ion there will be a single unpaired electron. That's one half of what was originally a pair of electrons - the other half is the electron which was removed in the ionization process.