Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy (FT ICR) techniques, including collision-induced dissociation (CID) methodology, were applied to the study of the gas-phase protonation of pivalaldehyde (1) and 1-adamantanecarbaldehyde (2). A new synthetic method for 2 was developed. The experiments, together with a thorough computational study involving ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of high level, conclusively show that upon monoprotonation in the gas phase, compound 1 yields monoprotonated methyl isopropyl ketone 3. The mechanism of this gas-phase acid-catalyzed isomerization is different from that reported by Olah and Suryah Prakash for the reaction in solution. In the latter case, isomerization takes place through the diprotonation of 1. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.