Sodium Cation Affinities of Commonly Used MALDI Matrices Determined by Guided Ion Beam Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The sodium cation affinities of six commonly used MALDI matrices are determined here using guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry techniques. The collision-induced dissociation behavior of six sodium cationized MALDI matrices, Na⁺(MALDI), with Xe is studied as a function of kinetic energy. The MALDI matrices examined here include: nicotinic acid, quinoline, 3-aminoquinoline, 4-nitroaniline, picolinic acid, and 3-hydroxypicolinic acid. In all cases, the primary dissociation pathway corresponds to endothermic loss of the intact MALDI matrix. The cross section thresholds are interpreted to yield zero and 298 K Na⁺−MALDI bond dissociation energies (BDEs), or sodium cation affinities, after accounting for the effects of multiple ion-neutral collisions, the kinetic and internal energy distributions of the reactants, and dissociation lifetimes. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G* and MP2(full)/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory are used to characterized the structures and energetics for these systems. The calculated BDEs exhibit very good agreement with the measured values for most systems. The experimental and theoretical Na⁺−MALDI BDEs determined here are compared with those previously measured by cation transfer equilibrium methods.