Probing polystyrene cationization in matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization

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Eur. J. Mass Spectrom. 4, 429 - 433 (1998)

Probing polystyrene cationization in matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization

H. Rashidezadeh, K. Hung and Baochuan Guo^*
Department of Chemistry, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA. E-mail:

ABSTRACT:

It has been observed that the use of the salts of transition metals other than silver, copper or palladium as the cationizing agent, often fails to cationize polystyrenes in matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI). This work shows that the ability of MALDI to reduce metals to the oxidation state +1 is critically important to polystyrene cationization. Without this reduction, MALDI tends to fail to form polystyrene-metal cations. In addition, this work demonstrates the importance of the use of a good combination of metal salts and matrix in polystyrene cationization. Finally, the implications of this work in the MALDI time-of-flight analysis of polystyrenes are discussed.

Keywords: MALDI, TOF, polystyrenes, cationization, mass spectrometry, cationizing agents and ionization mechanism

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