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Production and fragmentation of multiply charged ions in ‘electron‐free’ matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization
Author(s) -
Frankevich Vladimir,
Zhang Juan,
Dashtiev Maxim,
Zenobi Renato
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.1194
Subject(s) - chemistry , ionization , ion , soft laser desorption , atomic physics , matrix assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization , electron ionization , fragmentation (computing) , electron , matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization , yield (engineering) , dissociation (chemistry) , ion source , desorption , atmospheric pressure laser ionization , physics , adsorption , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , computer science , thermodynamics , operating system
An unusually large fraction of multiply charged ions is observed in ‘electron‐free’ matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). Here we investigate how the yield of multiply charged ions depends on experimental parameters in MALDI. It is found to increase if measures are taken to limit the number of electrons in the plume, for example, by using non‐metallic MALDI targets or low laser pulse energies. The ionization energy of the matrix is another important parameter that affects the yield of multiply charged ions: matrices with high ionization energies lead to greater intensities of multiply charged ions. It is furthermore proposed that some of the fragment ions observed in MALDI are due to reactions of analyte with electrons in the plume. The possibility of electron capture dissociation of multiply charged ions produced by MALDI is shown. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.