A mixed matrix of 3-hydroxypicolinic acid and pyrazinecarboxylic acid for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of oligodeoxynucleotides

A mixed matrix of 3-hydroxypicolinic acid (3-HPA) and pyrazinecarboxylic acid (PCA) was used for analysis of a variety of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides ranging in length from 8-108-mers by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The experimental results showed that DNA segments with masses in the range from 5000 to 10,500 Da can be analyzed with high resolution (isotopic peaks resolved) when 3-HPA/PCA was prepared by mixing saturated 3-HPA solution and saturated PCA solution (in 50% of a 0.5 mol/L solution of diammonium hydrogen citrate plus 50% acetonitrile) at the volume ratio of 4:1. Each component of a mixture of d(A)1-10 gave a well-resolved peak. Moreover, when 3-HPA/PCA was used to analyze two mixtures, one containing two 23-mer DNA segments with a 9 Da difference (A and T) and the other with a 7 Da difference (AA and TG), the two 23-mer ion peaks were well separated from each other and an isotopically resolved spectrum of each component was recorded. Under the identical experimental conditions, the sample-to-sample reproducibility, resolution, signal-to-noise ratio and the tolerance to metal salts, with 3-HPA/PCA, were superior to those observed using 3-HPA alone for analysis of DNA segments.