Laser desorption ionization-triple spectrometer

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a method for obtaining sequence and structural information by measurement of the mass-to-charge ratios of ionized molecules before and after dissociation reactions within a mass spectrometer which consists essentially of two mass spectrometers in tandem. In the first step, precursor ions are selected for further fragmentation by energy impact and interaction with a collision gas. The generated product ions can be analyzed by a second scan step. MS/MS measurements of peptides can be performed using electrospray or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization in combination with triple quadruple, ion trap, quadrupole-TOF (time-of-flight), TOF-TOF or ion cyclotron resonance MS. Tandem... 

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of a mass spectrometer depicting its main components and the different modes used. Abbreviations DIP direct insertion probe DEP direct exposure probe GC gas chromatography LC liquid chromatography CE capillary chromatography TEC thin-layer chromatography FEE field-flow fractionation APCI atmospheric pressure ionization El electron impact Cl chemical ionization FAB fast-atom bombardment PD plasma desorption MALDI matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization ED laser desorption TSP thermospray ESI electron spray ionization HSI hypherthermal surface ionization Q quadropole QQQ triple quadropole TOE time-of-fiight FTMS Fourier transform mass spectrometer IT ion trap EM electrom multiplier PM photomultiplier ICR ion cyclotron resonance.

An IM-quadMS was the first hybrid instrument used to detect nitrotoluene compounds with a radioactive ionization source [189]. Later work uses laser desorption ionization (LDI) to detect TNT, DNT, RDX, and HMX with an IM-quadMS [190]. Recently, the formation reaction mechanism of RDX response ions in an atmospheric pressure GDI source is now better understood with the use of an IM-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer [179]. 

Because of the advances in the gas-phase ionization of biomacromolecules, such as electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), mass spectrometry (MS) has become a powerful tool for detection, identification, and structural analysis of proteins, peptides, and polynucleotides. The molecules ionized in a gas phase by these methods are subsequently analyzed by sector, quadrupole, ion-trap, or time-of-flight mass spectrometers. In particular, the MS systems consisting of ESI and triple-stage quadrupole (ESI/TSQ) or ion-trap (IT) mass spectrometry and MALDI time-of-flight (MALDl/TOF) mass spectrometry have been most widely applied to the field of protein chemistry for the accurate determination of molecular mass of proteins and peptides, determination of amino acid sequence, identification of proteins by peptide mass databases, and analysis of posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation and glycosylation. In general, current techniques allow detenni-... 

With the move toward higher mass additives to reduce volatility, Johlman et al. examined additives with masses between 500 and 1300 Daltons and compared the results with spectra obtained employing FAB ionization. Using direct laser desorption FTMS in a 3 T system, spectra were found to be "superior" to the FAB spectra produced using both sector and triple-quad mass spectrometers, particularly in terms of reduced fragmentation. 

Another LDI instrument that was similar in principle to LAMMA was developed by Perchalski (1985) that featured the additional selectivity of two stages of mass analysis provided by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QqQ). The LDI QqQ was shown to have potential for use as a probe-type analyzer for molecular analysis of mixtures, as demonstrated by the detection of a mixture of nine antiepileptic drugs by monitoring the precursor ion/product ion pair for each drug (Perchalski et al., 1983). The LDI—QqQ, however, was determined to be too slow to adequately characterize molecules ionized by cationization or anionization after desorption by a single-shot laser. Also, the vaporization/ionization process on the LDI—QqQ was unable to ionize polar, nonvolatile, and/or thermally unstable molecules (Perchalski, 1985). 

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