The rapid characterisation of poly(ethylene glycol) oligomers using desorption electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry combined with novel product ion peak assignment software

Jonathan P. Williams, Gillian R. Hilton, Konstantinos Thalassinos, Anthony T. Jackson, James Scrivens

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    28 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A rapid method for the characterisation of polyglycol esters and ethers is described which uses accurate mass desorption electrospray ionisation (DESI) quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-ToFMS). The results are combined with newly developed software which aids the interpretation of product ions produced using collision-induced dissociation (CID) of selected precursor ions. The poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) samples analysed were PEG dibenzoate, PEG monooleate, PEG butyl ether, PEG bis(2-ethyl hexanoate) and PEG diacrylate. Lithium metal was used for cationisation of the PEG oligomers since it yielded the most useful structural information compared with other group I metals. The full scan mass spectra and product ion mass spectra were all obtained in <5s. Interpretation of the MS/MS product ion spectra, using the product ion interpretation software which incorporates previously developed fragmentation rules, was carried out in <1 s.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1693-1704
    Number of pages12
    JournalRapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
    Volume21
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2007

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The rapid characterisation of poly(ethylene glycol) oligomers using desorption electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry combined with novel product ion peak assignment software'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this