Detailed analysis of α,ω-bis(4-hydroxybutyl) poly(dimethylsiloxane) using GPC-MALDI TOF mass spectrometry

In this study the prepolymer alpha,omega-bis(4-hydroxybutyl) poly(dimethylsiloxane), used in the formulation of oxygen permeable films, is evaluated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) combined with matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). Two unexpected mass distributions are observed in the mass spectra. Reaction schemes for the formation of these distributions are proposed. A solution phase trimethylsilane end group modification was performed on the prepolymer to determine whether the unexpected mass distributions occur as impurities from synthesis or as artifacts from the MS process. Evaluation of the TMS modified prepolymer indicates the unexpected mass distributions indeed occur as impurities from the synthetic procedure. Average molecular weight values are determined by traditional GPC, direct MALDI-TOF MS, and GPC-MALDI-TOF MS methods and the results are compared.     

Effect of sample preparation methods on the analysis of dispersed polysaccharides by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Effect of sample preparation methods on the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) analysis of dispersed polysaccharides is reported. By using the conventional drop-drying method, the measured number-averaged molecular weights were found to differ significantly from the values obtained from gel-permeation chromatography (GPC). These discrepancies were found to increase as the average masses of the polysaccharides increased. To understand the impact of the sample preparation method on the MALDI measurement, a dispersed dextran sample was separated into ten narrow-distribution fractions. Mixtures of different mass fractions were prepared and analyzed by using different mixing and preparation methods. By using the ratio of the signal intensity for the low-mass fraction to that of the high-mass fraction as an indicator, the impact of sample preparation conditions on the enhancement of low-mass components (or suppression of high-mass components) was determined. From the results obtained, it is postulated that the difference in solubilities between the low-mass and high-mass components for dispersed polymers might be large enough to induce an enhancement of low-mass components (or suppression of high-mass components) at the surface of the crystals during sample crystallization in the drop-drying method.     

MALDI-TOF质谱表征聚芳醚酮环状低聚物及其组分分布

应用介质辅助激光解吸离子化飞行时间质谱(MALDI-TOFMS),以二羟基苯甲酸为介质、N₂(337nm)为激光源,对两种聚芳醚酮环状低聚物的结构进行了确认,研究了环状低聚物不同聚合度组分的分布规律,并且与GPC质量分析法作了比较,实验结果表明,MALDI-TQF质谱是分析环状低聚物的准确、快速的工具之一.     

Electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectral characterization of linear single nylon-6 oligomers

Synthetic nylon-6 single molecular mass oligomers were studied by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry. These oligomers, considered as model compounds for the study of nylon-6 polymers, gave good mass spectrometric results using both MALDI and ESI. In spite of the gentle nature of both techniques, the MALDI and ESI spectra showed evidence of end-group cleavage from the oligomer chains. MALDI-MS was found to give similar fragmentation patterns for all of the oligomer samples. An increase in doubly charged ion signals with increasing oligomer mass was observed in the ESI mass spectra, as was end-group fragmentation. Signals from oligomer clusters were observed in ESI-MS for the dimer, tetramer and hexamer, most likely due to non-covalent bonding among the low-mass oligomer molecules.     

Exploiting the complementary nature of LC/MALDI/MS/MS and LC/ESI/MS/MS for increased proteome coverage

The goal of this work was to evaluate the improvement in proteome coverage of complex protein mixtures gained by analyzing samples using both LC/ESI/MS/MS and LC/MALDI/MS/MS. Parallel analyses of a single sample were accomplished by interfacing a Probot fractionation system with a nanoscale LC system. The Probot was configured to perform a post-column split such that a fraction (20%) of the column effluent was sent for on-line LC/ESI/MS/MS data acquisition, and the majority of the sample (80%) was mixed with a matrix solution and deposited onto the MALDI target plate. The split-flow approach takes advantage of the concentration sensitive nature of ESI and provides sufficient quantity of sample for MALDI/MS/MS. Hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometers were used to acquire LC/ESI/MS/MS data and LC/MALDI/MS/MS data from a tryptic digest of a preparation of mammalian mitochondrial ribosomes. The mass spectrometers were configured to operate in a data dependent acquisition mode in which precursor ions observed in MS survey scans are automatically selected for interrogation by MS/MS. This type of acquisition scheme maximizes the number of peptide fragmentation spectra obtained and is commonly referred to as shotgun analysis. While a significant degree of overlap (63%) was observed between the proteins identified in the LC/ESI/MS/MS and LC/MALDI/MS/MS data sets, both unique peptides and unique proteins were observed by each method. These results demonstrate that improved proteome coverage can be obtained using a combination of these ionization techniques.     

蛋白质分子量测定过程中的酸效应

在基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱（MALDI-TOF-MS）和电喷雾质谱（ESI-MS）测定蛋白质分子分子量的过程中,适当提高样品的酸度,可提高分析测试的灵敏度。在选定最佳样品分子浓度的基础上,通过适当加入三氟乙酸（TFA）来调整测试样品的酸度,准确测定了标准蛋白质-溶菌酶（lysozyme）的分子量,并且对蛋白质分子在“软电离”质谱中,受酸效应的影响进行了初步探讨。     

用MALDI-TOF-MS法表征系列环状预聚体

应用基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱（MALDI－TOF－MS）技术对系列环状预聚体进行了表征,分别确定了系列环状预聚体各自不同的聚合度,同时对它们的结构进行了确认,获得了满意的结果。实验结果表明MALDI－TOF－MS是分析环状预聚体准确、快速工具之一。     

Analysis of antioxidants in insulation cladding of copper wire: a comparison of different mass spectrometric techniques (ESI–IT,MALDI–RTOF and RTOF–SIMS)

Commercial copper wire and its polymer insulation cladding was investigated for the presence of three synthetic antioxidants (ADK STAB AO412S, Irganox 1010 and Irganox MD 1024) by three different mass spectrometric techniques including electrospray ionization–ion trap–mass spectrometry (ESI–IT–MS), matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization reflectron time‐of‐flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MALDI–RTOF–MS) and reflectron TOF secondary ion mass spectrometry (RTOF–SIMS). The samples were analyzed either directly without any treatment (RTOF–SIMS) or after a simple liquid/liquid extraction step (ESI–IT–MS, MALDI–RTOF–MS and RTOF–SIMS). Direct analysis of the copper wire itself or of the insulation cladding by RTOF–SIMS allowed the detection of at least two of the three antioxidants but at rather low sensitivity as molecular radical cations and with fairly strong fragmentation (due to the highly energetic ion beam of the primary ion gun). ESI–IT‐ and MALDI–RTOF–MS‐generated abundant protonated and/or cationized molecules (ammoniated or sodiated) from the liquid/liquid extract. Only ESI–IT–MS allowed simultaneous detection of all three analytes in the extract of insulation claddings. The latter two so‐called ‘soft’ desorption/ionization techniques exhibited intense fragmentation only by applying low‐energy collision‐induced dissociation (CID) tandem MS on a multistage ion trap‐instrument and high‐energy CID on a tandem TOF‐instrument (TOF/RTOF), respectively. Strong differences in the fragmentation behavior of the three analytes could be observed between the different CID spectra obtained from either the IT‐instrument (collision energy in the very low eV range) or the TOF/RTOF‐instrument (collision energy 20 keV), but both delivered important structural information. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sample preparation in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of whole bacterial cells and the detection of high mass (>20 kDa) proteins

Three sample preparation strategies commonly employed in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) of whole bacterial cells were investigated for the detection of high mass signals; these included the dried droplet, the seed-layer/two-layer, and the bottom-layer methods. Different sample preparation approaches favoured the detection of high- or low-mass proteins. The low-mass peaks were best detected using the bottom-layer method. By contrast, the dried droplet method using a solvent with higher water content, and hence effecting a slower crystallization process, gave the best results for the detection of high-mass signals. Signals up to m/z 158 000 could be detected with this methodology for Bacillus sphaericus. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of the same extracts used for MALDI-TOFMS showed bands in the molecular weight range in which high-mass peaks were observed in MALDI-MS, suggesting that the high-mass signals are not polymeric adducts of low-mass protein monomers. In addition, one of the high molecular weight proteins (approximately 126 kDa) was putatively identified as an S-layer protein by an in-gel tryptic digest. The bacterial samples spotted on the target wells for MALDI-TOFMS, using the different sample preparation strategies, were examined under a scanning electron microscope and differences were observed between the different strategies, suggesting that the nature of the crystals and the distribution of the analytes amidst the crystals could influence the spectral pattern observed in MALDI-TOFMS of whole bacterial cells. Finally, evidence is presented to indicate that, although the determinants are intact cells, cell lysis occurs both before and during the MALDI process.     

Characterization of different poly(2‐oxazoline) block copolymers by MALDI‐TOF MS/MS and ESI‐Q‐TOF MS/MS

A complete library of poly(2‐oxazoline) block copolymers was synthesized via cationic ring opening polymerization for the characterization by two different soft ionization techniques, namely matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) and electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (ESI‐Q‐TOF MS). In addition, a detailed characterization was performed by tandem MS to gain more structural information about the block copolymer composition and its fragmentation behavior. The fragmentation of the poly(2‐oxazoline) block copolymers revealed the desired polymer structure and possible side reactions, which could be explained by different mechanisms, like 1,4‐ethylene or hydrogen elimination and the McLafferty +1 rearrangement. Polymers with aryl side groups showed less fragmentation due to their higher stability compared to polymers with alkyl side groups. These insights represent a further step toward the construction of a library with fragments and their fragmentation pathways for synthetic polymers, following the successful examples in proteomics. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

High‐resolution MALDI‐TOF MS study on analysis of low‐molecular‐weight products from photo‐oxidation of poly(3‐hexylthiophene)

High‐resolution matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS) was used for the analysis of the low‐molecular‐weight products from the photo‐oxidation of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in solution and thin film. Eight new peak series were observed in the low‐mass range of the mass spectra of the products degraded in solution, and the formulas of the eight components were determined from the accurate mass. From SEC/MALDI‐TOF MS, two components were identified as the degraded products, and the other six components were derived from the fragmentation of the degraded products during the MALDI process. A mechanism for the formation of these components was proposed on the basis of the results of MALDI‐TOF MS. For the thin film degradation, a part of products in the solution degradation were observed, which supports that the oxidation of P3HT in solution and thin film proceeded in the same mechanism. This study shows that high‐resolution MALDI‐TOF MS is effective for the analysis of the low‐molecular‐weight products from P3HT photo‐oxidation and expected to be feasible for the degradation analyses of other polymers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapidly switchable matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and electrospray quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry for protein identification

We describe a new interface for a prototype quadrupole-quadrupole-time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer (Centaur, Sciex) that allows rapid switching between electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) modes of operation. Instrument performance in both modes is comparable (i.e., resolution approximately 10,000 FWHM, mass accuracy <10 ppm, sensitivity approximately 1 fmol) because the ion source is decoupled from the TOF mass analyzer by extensive gas collisions in the quadrupole stages of the instrument. The capacity to obtain side-by-side high quality ESI and MALDI mass spectra from a single proteolytic mixture greatly facilitates the identification of proteins and elucidation of their primary structures. Improved strategies for protein identification result from this ability to measure spectra using both ionization modes in the same instrument and to perform MS/MS on singly charged as well as multiply charged ions. Examples are provided to demonstrate the utility and performance of the modified instrument.     

Tandem mass spectrometry of poly(ethylene imine)s by electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)

In this contribution, linear poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) polymers, which are of importance in gene delivery, are investigated in detail by using electrospray ionization‐quadrupole‐time of flight (ESI‐Q‐TOF) and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). The analyzed PEIs with different end groups were synthesized using the polymerization of substituted 2‐oxazoline via a living cationic ring‐opening polymerization (CROP) and a subsequent hydrolysis under acidic conditions. The main goal of this study was to identify linear PEI polymers in a detailed way to gain information about their fragmentation pathways. For this purpose, a detailed characterization of three different linear PEIs was performed by using ESI‐Q‐TOF and MALDI‐TOF MS in combination with collision‐induced dissociation (CID) experiments. In ESI‐MS as well as MALDI‐MS analysis, the obtained spectra of PEIs resulted in fitting mass distributions for the investigated PEIs. In the tandem MS analysis, a 1,2‐hydride shift with a charge‐remote rearrangement via a four‐membered cyclic transition state, as well as charge‐induced fragmentation reactions, was proposed as the main fragmentation mechanisms according to the obtained fragmentation products from the protonated parent peaks. In addition, heterolytic and homolytic cleavages were proposed as alternative fragmentation pathways. Moreover, a 1,4‐hydrogen elimination was proposed to explain different fragmentation products obtained from the sodiated parent peaks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LDI and ESI MS as well as low energy CID of a self-assembling nanorod-forming fullerene derivative

An amphiphatic fullerene derivative (8-(N-Methyl-Fullero-Pyrrolidinium-1-yl-chloride)-3,6-Dioxaoctan-1-Ammonium Chloride (MFPDAC)), which is of great interest in nanotechnology due to the fact that it forms self-assembling fullerenic nanorods, has been structurally characterized with emphasis to its purity and thermal treatment of a formed nanorod film (on a LDI target) by means of laser desorption/ionization (LDI) coupled with high-resolution curved field reflectron time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, and by low energy MS/MS as well as in-source fragmentation experiments applying an quadrupole ion trap (QIT) combined with a two-stage reflectron TOF analyzer. The interpretation of LDI results has been supplemented by ESI QIT MS(n) (n = 1-3), as well as high-resolution ESI reflectron TOF mass spectrometric experiments. Based on the experimental data obtained by both desorption/ionization techniques, various types of analyzers and sample treatments, we could completely characterize MFPDAC and further found out that the investigated sample was not entirely free of impurities. Furthermore, the envisaged loss of the derivative sidechain upon the heat treatment in vacuum of the self-assembled nanorod sample film on a metallic substrate could be successfully monitored by LDI MS.     

Phosphorylated serine and threonine residues promote site‐specific fragmentation of singly charged,arginine‐containing peptide ions

In order to investigate gas‐phase fragmentation reactions of phosphorylated peptide ions, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass (MS/MS) spectra were recorded from synthetic phosphopeptides and from phosphopeptides isolated from natural sources. MALDI‐TOF/TOF (TOF: time‐of‐flight) spectra of synthetic arginine‐containing phosphopeptides revealed a significant increase of y ions resulting from bond cleavages on the C‐terminal side of phosphothreonine or phosphoserine. The same effect was found in ESI‐MS/MS spectra recorded from the singly charged but not from the doubly charged ions of these phosphopeptides. ESI‐MS/MS spectra of doubly charged phosphopeptides containing two arginine residues support the following general fragmentation rule: Increased amide bond cleavage on the C‐terminal side of phosphorylated serines or threonines mainly occurs in peptide ions which do not contain mobile protons. In MALDI‐TOF/TOF spectra of phosphopeptides displaying N‐terminal fragment ions, abundant b–H₃PO₄ ions resulting from the enhanced dissociation of the pSer/pThr–X bond were detected (X denotes amino acids). Cleavages at phosphoamino acids were found to be particularly predominant in spectra of phosphopeptides containing pSer/pThr–Pro bonds. A quantitative evaluation of a larger set of MALDI‐TOF/TOF spectra recorded from phosphopeptides indicated that phosphoserine residues in arginine‐containing peptides increase the signal intensities of the respective y ions by almost a factor of 3. A less pronounced cleavage‐enhancing effect was observed in some lysine‐containing phosphopeptides without arginine. The proposed peptide fragmentation pathways involve a nucleophilic attack by phosphate oxygen on the carbon center of the peptide backbone amide, which eventually leads to cleavage of the amide bond. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of mass spectrometric techniques for generating molecular weight information on a class of ethoxylated oligomers

The results of fast atom bombardment (FAB), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALD/I), electrospray ionization (ESI), and field desorption (FD) analyses of ethoxylated oligomers of 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol (Surfynol^® 104) were compared.Each of these desorption mass spectrometry (MS) techniques can produce spectra of unfragmented cationized oligomers. From the observed ion series we calculate average molecular weight information. We have compared the results of mass spectrometric analyses of a series of ethoxylated Surfynol surfactants. Our data indicate that FAB, ToF-SIMS, MALDI/I, and ESI produce similar results for the lower molecular weight species, but that as the average molecular weight increases FAB and SIMS produce slightly lower results than MALD/I and FD. This could be due to increased fragmentation. ESI produced a result similar to FAB and SIMS for the highest average molecular weight material. Further experiments compare the mass spectral results with gas chromatographic quantitative data. Although gas chromatography is not expected to accurately analyze the higher mass oligomers, we observe significant differences in intensities of the short-chain oligomers (especially the 0- and 1-mers) when compared to the desorption mass spectrometer results. These differences may reflect poor cationization efficiency for very short oligomer chains in the mass spectrometric analyses.     

Fragmentation of organic ions bearing fixed multiple charges observed in MALDI MS

Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) was used to analyze a series of synthetic organic ions bearing fixed multiple charges. Despite the multiple intrinsic charges, only singly charged ions were recorded in each case. In addition to the pseudo‐molecular ions formed by counterion adduction, deprotonation and electron capture, a number of fragment ions were also observed. Charge splitting by fragmentation was found to be a viable route for charge reduction leading to the formation of the observed singly charged fragment ions. Unlike multivalent metal ions, organic ions can rearrange and/or fragment during charge reduction. This fragmentation process will evidently complicate the interpretation of the MALDI MS spectrum. Because MALDI MS is usually considered as a soft ionization technique, the fragment ion peaks can easily be erroneously interpreted as impurities. Therefore, the awareness and understanding of the underlying MALDI‐induced fragmentation pathways is essential for a proper interpretation of the corresponding mass spectra. Due to the fragment ions generated during charge reduction, special care should be taken in the MALDI MS analysis of multiply charged ions. In this work, the possible mechanisms by which the organic ions bearing fixed multiple charges fragment are investigated. With an improved understanding of the fragmentation mechanisms, MALDI TOF MS should still be a useful technique for the characterization of organic ions with fixed multiple charges.     

Application of electrospray mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for molecular weight assignment of peptides in complex mixtures

Electrospray mass spectrometry (ES/MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI/TOF/MS) were used to provide mass spectra from seven elapid snake venoms. Spectral interpretation was much simpler for MALDI/TOF/MS. ES/MS proved more useful for the provision of molecular weight data for very closely related peptides, but suppression of higher molecular weight compounds was seen to occur during flow injection analysis. MALDI/TOF/MS proved useful for providing a complete picture of the venom, but the low resolution led to obscuring of major ions, and the mass accuracy was poorer for known peptides. Suppression also occurred during MALDI/TOF/MS but could be overcome using alternative matrices because the spectra were very dependent on the choice of matrix. ES/MS and MALDI/TOF/MS provide complementary and confirmatory information such that for the anal sis of complex peptide mixtures (snake venoms), the use of both techniques is desirable.     

聚硫醚醚酮(砜)芳香环状低聚物的合成与自由基开环聚合

在“拟高稀释”条件下,通过亲核缩聚反应高产率地合成了含硫醚键的芳香醚环状低聚物.应用核磁、GPC和激光质谱(MALDI-TOFMS)等手段对环状低聚物的结构进行了确认,并研究了环状低聚物的组分分布.聚硫醚醚酮环状低聚物在硫醚自由基的引发下进行快速熔融聚合,得到热稳定性很好的高分子量线性聚合物.