Fragmentation of polyatomic molecules by grazing incidence surface-induced dissociation (GI-SID)

Surfactant-Enhanced Desorption/Ionization on Silicon Mass Spectrometry

Perfluorinated surfactants are demonstrated to dramatically enhance desorption/ionization on fluorinated silicon (DIOS) mass spectrometry. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid improved the signal-to-noise ratio of tryptic digests and gave a 3-fold increase in the number of peptides identified. Similar results were also obtained using perfluoroundecanoic acid; yet among the seven different surfactants tested, controls such as nonfluorinated sodium dodecyl sulfate or fluorinated molecules with minimal surfactant activity did not enhance the signal. The same surfactants also enhanced the DIOS-MS signal of amino acids, carbohydrates, and other small organic compounds. The signal enhancement may be facilitated by the high surface activity of the perfluorinated surfactants on the fluorinated silicon surfaces allowing for a higher concentration of analyte to be absorbed.

Surface-activated no-discharge atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

A new ionization method named surface-activated chemical ionization (SACI) has been realized. In this invention a commercially available atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) chamber, employed without any corona discharge (no-discharge APCI), has been modified with the insertion of a gold surface, leading to a significant improvement in the ionization efficiency. The ionization of the sample takes place by both gas-phase and surface-activated processes. This new ionization source is able to generate ions with high molecular mass and low charge states, leading to improved sensitivity and reduced noise. The new device has been tested in the analysis of some peptides. A comparison between the performance with and without the presence of the surface, and the optimization of the operating conditions (nebulizing gas flow, sample solution flow, pH of solution, and surface area), are reported and discussed.

A new approach for effecting surface-induced dissociation in an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer: a modeling study

With the increasing use of ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) for tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis of biomolecules, surface-induced dissociation (SID) should be given serious consideration as an ion activation technique. There are at least two compelling reasons to consider SID: it can deposit significant amounts of internal energy into large ions, and no collision gas is required. These potential advantages have led us to undertake a modeling study of the SID process in an ICR using the ion optics program SIMION. The various methods previously used to obtain SID spectra are compared to a new approach for effecting SID in an ICR. Through simulations, many different parameters present in the experiment are correlated to the kinetic energy of the parent ion upon impact and the overall product ion collection efficiency (and hence the signal intensity) expected. The modeling results suggest this new approach allows larger, more precise, and controllable impact energies to be used, as well as providing higher collection efficiencies. The validity of the modeling results is supported by good qualitative agreement with previously reported experimental results.

Grazing incidence surface-induced dissociation of protonated peptides generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

The grazing incidence surface-induced dissociation (GI-SID) of various protonated peptides with typical kinetic energies of 350 eV was investigated. Peptide ions were generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) using delayed extraction. The collision target surfaces used were aluminum and a liquid film of perfluorinated hydrocarbons. All peptides studied in these experiments showed enhanced fragment ion yields at grazing incidence (GI-SID effect) as observed in our former experiments with other precursor ion types. In general the GI-SID spectra exhibit N-terminal a(1)-type fragment ions, immonium ions and side-chain fragment ions in the low mass-to-charge region. Fragment ion series of the peptide backbone were not observed, which are typical and abundant in the spectra of established fragmentation techniques like collision-induced dissociation, MALDI post-source decay or surface-induced dissociation at steeper angles. The potential of the GI-SID process to yield useful information for primary structure determination of peptides is indicated by the observed differences in the GI-SID spectra of the isomeric dipeptides LR and IR.