Characteristics of electrical field and ion motion in surface‐electrode ion traps

In this article, we calculated the potential function of the surface‐electrode ion trap (SEIT) by using Green's function method, optimized trap size, obtained the coefficients of the multipoles and analyzed ion trajectories in the RF potential. The optimized SEIT not only increases its trapping well depth by a factor of about 15, but also has relatively good linearity of the field (or large quadrupole component). The current design of SEIT can work well either as the ion guide for ion transmission or as the ion trap for ion confinement. Our research can be used to calculate the potential function in the SEIT with different device parameters, understand ion motions in the traps and optimize instrument performance. The method for calculating potential function can be expanded to planar and halo ion traps. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inorganic functional materials: optimization of properties by structural and compositional control

A review is given of the strategies used to dope inorganic solids and the consequences for properties such as ionic and electronic conductivity. Doping mechanisms involve either substitution of foreign ions onto lattice sites, creation of vacancies on either cation or anion sites, or population of normally empty interstitial sites by either anions or cations. Mechanisms for charge compensation associated with aliovalent doping are reviewed and examples are given in the fields of solid state ionics and high-temperature superconductivity. The strategies used for targeting materials with new properties are reviewed, including a surprising number of cases where startling new properties are encountered in well-known materials. Specific examples discussed include MgB2 superconductor, Na beta-alumina sodium ion conductor, Ca12Al14O33 oxide ion conductor, LiCoMnO4 lithium battery cathode, doped Li4SiO4 tunable lithium ion conductor, and La-doped BaTiO3 ferroelectric, which can be either semiconducting or insulating. Examples are also given of a curious observation that extraordinary properties are often encountered in materials that are on the edge of stability, either structurally or compositionally or at the crossover between different property types.     

Coulometric titration of thallous ion with electrogenerated ferricyanide ion

Thallous ion can be coulometrically titrated to thallic oxide in strongly alkaline medium by means of ferricyanide ion generated by anodic oxidation of ferrocyanide ion at a platinum anode. The equivalence point may be detected either potentiometrically or amperometrically. With 8 to 20 mg of thallous ion in 125 ml the accuracy and precision are within ± 0.2%.     

A study of the nature of coordination in metal monothiocarbamates based on infrared spectroscopy and the HSAB concept

The nature of coordination in metal monothiocarbamates is shown to depend on the hardness or softness of the metal ton. Thus, the monothiocarbamate ion acts as a monodentate ligand with metal-sulphur bending when the metal ion is a soft acid while it acts as a bidentate ligand when the metal ion is a hard acid; it can exhibit either behaviour when the metal ion is a borderline acid. In dialkyltin and dialkylmonocholorotin complexes, the monothiocarbamate ion acts as a bidentate ligand with strong Sn-S bonding while in trialkyl-or triaryl-tin complexes it acts essentially as a monodentate ligand. Thus, R₃Sn(I) seems to be a soft or borderline acid while R₂Sn(II) is a hard acid.     

Design and Application of a Data-Independent Precursor and Product Ion Repository

The functional design and application of a data-independent LC-MS precursor and product ion repository for protein identification, quantification, and validation is conceptually described. The ion repository was constructed from the sequence search results of a broad range of discovery experiments investigating various tissue types of two closely related mammalian species. The relative high degree of similarity in protein complement, ion detection, and peptide and protein identification allows for the analysis of normalized precursor and product ion intensity values, as well as standardized retention times, creating a multidimensional/orthogonal queryable, qualitative, and quantitative space. Peptide ion map selection for identification and quantification is primarily based on replication and limited variation. The information is stored in a relational database and is used to create peptide- and protein-specific fragment ion maps that can be queried in a targeted fashion against the raw or time aligned ion detections. These queries can be conducted either individually or as groups, where the latter affords pathway and molecular machinery analysis of the protein complement. The presented results also suggest that peptide ionization and fragmentation efficiencies are highly conserved between experiments and practically independent of the analyzed biological sample when using similar instrumentation. Moreover, the data illustrate only minor variation in ionization efficiency with amino acid sequence substitutions occurring between species. Finally, the data and the presented results illustrate how LC-MS performance metrics can be extracted and utilized to ensure optimal performance of the employed analytical workflows.     

On the admittance of lipid bilayer membranes: Part II. Uncouplers and ion carriers

Rangarajan's modular formalism has been applied to those cases in which ion transport across an ultra-thin membrane is associated with membrane permeation of a neutral species. A single connectivity diagram can be used to represent the admittance in the presence of an ion carrier or of either a monomeric or a dimeric uncoupler.     

Effect of channel block on the collective spiking activity of coupled stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley neurons

Toxins, such as tetraethylammonium (TEA) and tetrodotoxin (TTX), can make potassium or sodium ion channels poisoned, respectively, and hence reduce the number of working ion channels and lead to the diminishment of conductance. In this paper, we have studied by numerical simulations the effects of sodium and potassium ion channel poisoning on the collective spiking activity of an array of coupled stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neurons. It is found for a given number of neurons sodium or potas- sium ion channel block can either enhance or reduce the collective spiking regularity, depending on the membrane patch size. For a given smaller or larger patch size, potassium and sodium ion channel block can reduce or enhance the collective spiking regularity, but they have different patch size ranges for the transformation. This result shows that sodium or potassium ion channel block might have dif- ferent effects on the collective spiking activity in coupled HH neurons from the effects for a single neuron, which represents the interplay among the diminishment of maximal conductance and the in- crease of channel noise strength due to the channel blocks, as well as the bi-directional coupling be- tween the neurons.     

A constant-momentum/energy-selector time-of-flight mass spectrometer

A matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been built with an ion source that can be operated in either constant-energy or constant-momentum acceleration modes. A decreasing electric field distribution in the ion-accelerating region makes it possible to direct ions onto a space-focal plane in either modes of operation. Ions produced in the constant-momentum mode have velocities and, thus, flight times that are linearly dependent on mass and kinetic energies that are inversely dependent on mass. The linear mass dispersion doubles mass resolving power of ions accelerated with space-focusing conditions in constant-momentum mode. The mass-dependent kinetic energy is exploited to disperse ions according to mass in a simple kinetic energy filter constructed from two closely spaced, oblique ion reflectors. Focusing velocity of ions of the same mass can substantially improve ion selection for subsequent post source decay or tandem time-of-flight analyses.     

Quantitative enrichment of trace levels of ions by electrodialysis

The effect of ionic strength on the rate of ion transport across ion-exchange membranes under either constant potential or constant current conditions in electrodialysis precludes direct application of this method to quantitative enrichment studies. Addition of an excess of electrolyte to a sample to normalize the ionic strength permits either dialysis mode to be employed. The rate of ion transport into a receiver electrolyte becomes directly proportional to concentration over at least 2.5 orders-of-magnitude. The concentration range for which linear enrichment is achieved for cations extends down to the 10^-7 M level with 30-min dialyses into a mixed 0.1 M MgCl₂—0.1 M HCl receiver. Alternatively, an internal standard approach can be used; however, the difficulty in matching the behaviour of membrane transport numbers as a function of ionic strength can limit the application of this approach.     

Theory and applications of a novel ion exchange chromatographic technology using controlled pH gradients for separating proteins on anionic and cationic stationary phases

pISep is a major new advance in low ionic strength ion exchange chromatography. It enables the formation of externally controlled pH gradients over the very broad pH range from 2 to 12. The gradients can be generated on either cationic or anionic exchangers over arbitrary pH ranges wherein the stationary phases remain totally charged. Associated pISep software makes possible the calculation of either linear, nonlinear or combined, multi-step, multi-slope pH gradients. These highly reproducible pH gradients, while separating proteins and glycoproteins in the order of their electrophoretic pIs, provide superior chromatographic resolution compared to salt. This paper also presents a statistical mechanical model for protein binding to ion exchange stationary phases enhancing the electrostatic interaction theory for the general dependence of retention factor k, on both salt and pH simultaneously. It is shown that the retention factors computed from short time isocratic salt elution data of a model protein can be used to accurately predict its salt elution concentration in varying slope salt elution gradients formed at varying isocratic pH as well as the pH at which it will be eluted from an anionic exchange column by a pISep pH gradient in the absence of salt.     

Gold-Catalyzed Cyclisation by 1,4-Dioxidation

Amide-substituted diynes were cyclized in the presence of a cationic gold catalyst and an external nucleophile leading to 1-indenones and 1-iminoindenones. The electron-donating features of the nitrogen atom enable the formation of a reactive ketene iminium ion, which can be trapped by either diphenyl sulfoxide or anthranil as nucleophiles in a subsequent oxidation step, providing substituted inden-1-on-3-carboxamides.     

Rapid screening and characterization of drug metabolites using a new quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer

The application of a new hybrid RF/DC quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer to support drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies is described. The instrument is based on a quadrupole ion path and is capable of conventional tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) as well as several high-sensitivity ion trap MS scans using the final quadrupole as a linear ion trap. Several pharmaceutical compounds, including trocade, remikiren and tolcapone, were used to evaluate the capabilities of the system with positive and negative turbo ionspray, using either information-dependent data acquisition (IDA) or targeted analysis for the screening, identification and quantification of metabolites. Owing to the MS/MS in-space configuration, quadrupole-like CID spectra with ion trap sensitivity can be obtained without the classical low mass cutoff of 3D ion traps. The system also has MS(3) capability which allows fragmentation cascades to be followed. The combination of constant neutral loss or precursor ion scan with the enhanced product ion scan was found to be very selective for identifying metabolites at the picogram level in very complex matrices. Owing to the very high cycle time and, depending on the mass range, up to eight different MS experiments could be performed simultaneously without compromising chromatographic performance. Targeted product ion analysis was found to be complementary to IDA, in particular for very low concentrations. Comparable sensitivity was found in enhanced product ion scan and selected reaction monitoring modes. The instrument is particularly suitable for both qualitative and quantitative analysis.     

Negative ion FAB mass spectroscopy of some ribose alkylated 5'-UMP derivatives

Characteristic fragment ions obtained in Fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectroscopy of ribose alkylated Uridine 5'-monophosphate (5'-UMP) derivatives in negative ion mode are described. All the compounds examined exhibited either [M]- or quasimolecular ion [M - H]- the fragmentations can be used to characterize these nucleotides.     

单柱离子色谱法测定一价阳离子的流动相研究

对单柱离子色谱法测定一价阳离子的流动相进行了系统研究，阐述了一价阳离子的保留行为和电导检测行为与流动相之间的关系，分别对无机酸（硝酸）、有机酸（柠檬酸）和芳香碱（苯胺）为流动相测定一价阳离子进行了讨论，其中有机酸和无机酸是较为适宜的流动相。     

Spectral Properties of Extracted Complexes of MetalPicrates with Crown Ethers

The investigation on UV-visible spectra of species formed by extracting some metal picrates with benzo-15-crown-5(B15C5) and dibenzo-18-crown-6(DB18C6) verified that there are some interactions of picrate anion with K , Na and rare earth ions in loaded organic phase. By the study of the charge transfer band and absorption spectra of picrate anion, it can be determined whether an ion pair has been formed and either a 1 : 1 contact ion pair or a 1 : 2 crown-separated ion pair involved in organic phase can be distinguished for an ion-pair extraction.     

A combined nuclear magnetic resonance and computational study of monohydroxyflavones applied to product ion mass spectra

A method is presented for the estimation of 13C-chemical shifts for carbon atoms in protonated and deprotonated molecules; in principle, this method can be applied to ions in general. Experimental 13C-chemical shifts were found to vary linearly with computed atomic charges using the PM3 method. Pseudo-13C-chemical shifts for atoms in protonated and deprotonated molecules can be estimated from computed atomic charges for such atoms using the above linear relationship. The pseudo-13C-chemical shifts obtained were applied to the rationalization of product ion mass spectra of protonated and deprotonated molecules of flavone and 3-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 2'-, 3'-, and 4'-hydroxyflavones, where product ion formation is due to either cross-ring cleavage of the C-ring (retro-Diels-Alder reaction) or to cleavage of a C-ring bond followed by loss of either a small neutral molecule or a radical. The total product ion abundance ratio of C-ring cross cleavage to C-ring bond cleavage, gamma, varied by a factor of 660 for deprotonated monohydroxyflavones, i.e., from 0.014:1 to 9.27:1. The magnitude of gamma, which is dependent on the relative bond orders within the C-ring of the protonated and deprotonated molecules of monohydroxyflavones, can be rationalized on the basis of the magnitudes of the 13C- and 1H-chemical shifts as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.     

Triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer for the analysis of small molecules and macromolecules

Recently, linear ion traps (LITs) have been combined with quadrupole (Q), time-of-flight (TOF) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry (MS). LITs can be used either as ion accumulation devices or as commercially available, stand-alone mass spectrometers with MSn capabilities. The combination of triple quadrupole MS with LIT technology in the form of an instrument of configuration QqLIT, using axial ejection, is particularly interesting, because this instrument retains the classical triple quadrupole scan functions such as selected reaction monitoring (SRM), product ion (PI), neutral loss (NL) and precursor ion (PC) while also providing access to sensitive ion trap experiments. For small molecules, quantitative and qualitative analysis can be performed using the same instrument. In addition, for peptide analysis, the enhanced multiply charged (EMC) scan allows an increase in selectivity, while the time-delayed fragmentation (TDF) scan provides additional structural information. Various methods of operating the hybrid instrument are described for the case of the commercial Q TRAP (AB/MDS Sciex) and applications to drug metabolism analysis, quantitative confirmatory analysis, peptides analysis and automated nanoelectrospray (ESI-chip-MS) analysis are discussed.     

Laser photo-induced dissociation using tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A novel tandem time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer has been developed for studying the photo-induced dissociation of large molecules and elemental clusters. It consists of a linear first stage TOF analyser for primary mass separation and precursor ion selection, and a second orthogonal reflecting field TOF analyser for product ion analysis. The instrument is equipped with a large volume throughput molecular beam source chamber allowing the production of jet-cooled molecules and molecular clusters, as well as elemental clusters, using either a pulsed laser vaporisation source (LVS) or a pulsed are cluster ion source (PACIS). A second differentially pumped chamber can be used with effusive sources, or for infrared laser desorption of large molecules, followed by laser ionisation. These primary ions can then be irradiated with a second, high energy laser to induce photodissociation. Detailed information about the fragmentation mechanisms can be deduced from the product ion mass spectra. Preliminary results on the photo-induced dissociation (PID) of the molecule ion of aniline at 266 nm are presented. In this case the molecule ions were generated via two-photon laser ionisation at 266 nm using an effusive source. Results for the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the aniline molecule ion, using a commercial mass spectrometer equipped with an atmospheric pressure electrospray ionisation interface, are also presented. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthetic cation transporters incorporating crown ethers and calixarenes as headgroups and central relays: a comparison of sodium and chloride selectivity

An earlier study showed that a calix[4]arene could function as a central relay unit to form an ion conductance pathway through a phospholipid bilayer membrane. The present study expands the range of compounds from calix[4]arene to calix[6]arene and incorporates them either as central units or as headgroups, substituting one or more diaza-18-crown-6 residues in functioning hydraphiles. Ion release was assayed by detecting either Na(+) or Cl(-) release from phospholipid vesicles. The ion transport activity for calix[4]arenes in either position is modest, but is almost non-existent when calix[6] residues were incorporated either as head groups or central relay units. The poor activity of the calix[6]arenes may result from an inability to penetrate to the midplane of the bilayer or pass entirely through it to form a conductance pathway. The transmembrane "flip-flop" may result from high polarity or steric bulk, or both. A hydraphile incorporating a single -NHCOC(6)H(4)OCH(2)CONH- as a central relay proved to be an excellent Na(+) conductor, but less selective for Cl(-). The fact that this new hydraphile molecule shows selectivity for Na (+) over Cl(-) transport and possesses two secondary amide residues in the central relay suggests a means to control ion selectivity in synthetic ion transporters.     

Incorporating the effect of ionic strength in free energy calculations using explicit ions

The incorporation of explicit ions to mimic the effect of ionic strength or to neutralize the overall charge on a system in free energy calculations using molecular dynamics simulations is investigated. The difference in the free energy of hydration between two triosephosphate isomerase inhibitors calculated at five different ion concentrations is used as an example. We show that the free energy difference can be highly sensitive to the presence of explicit ions even in cases where the mutation itself does not involve a change in the overall charge. The effect is most significant if the molecule carries a net charge close to the site mutated. Furthermore, it is shown that the introduction of a small number of ions can lead to very severe sampling problems suggesting that in practical calculations convergence can best be achieved by incorporating either no counterions or by simulating at high ionic strength to ensure sufficient sampling of the ion distribution.