The chem. ionization mass spectra of a series of vicinal diamines (N,N,N',N'- tetraalkyl-1,2-diarylethylenediamines), Ar = Ph, or substituted Ph, (1 to 46), synthesized by a novel reductive coupling of N,N-dialkyl benzamides in the presence of organosilane and Titanium have been recorded.Accurate mass measurements were used to confirm the identity of the principal fragmentation products.It is proposed that the primary fragmentation pathway originates from an initial C(1)-C(2) bond cleavage (α-cleavage) with charge retention on the nitrogen atom of one of the fragments, followed by sequential loss of two mols. of methane (R1R2 = Me2) or ethylene (R1,R2 = Et2).This fragmentation pathway initially leads to a stabilized benzylidene dialkylimonium ion, which constitutes the base peak in the spectra of all of the studied compounds, except for the case of R1R2 = Ph(Me), where the base peak arises from the unimol. deamination of [M+H]+.The relative importance of the two principal fragmentation pathways depends strongly on the nature of the substituents on the aryl group, as also do the subsequent fragmentations.Spectra were recorded for both the meso- and rac- isomer of each compound and only minor differences were observed between the spectra of the two diastereoisomers.