Controlling Charge States of Large Ions

• DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5399.194
• Publication Date: 2002-07-27T09:40:50Z
• Authors: Mark Scalf; Michael S. Westphall; Joern Krause; Stanley L. Kaufman; Lloyd M. Smith
• Keywords: Aerosols; Ions; Polonium; Electrochemistry; Oligonucleotides; Insulin; Proteins; Cytochrome c Group; Ubiquitins; 01 natural sciences; Mass Spectrometry; 0104 chemical sciences

The charge state of ions produced in electrospray ionization (ESI) was reduced a controlled manner to yield predominantly singly charged species by exposure the aerosol bipolar ionizing gas. Analysis resulting on an orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometer yielded spectra greatly simplified compared with conventional ESI spectra. decreased spectral complexity afforded reduction facilitates analysis mixtures spectrometry.