University of Virginia Patent Foundation

Thermo Finnigan LLC

Philip D Compton

Donald F Hunt

John E P Syka

Jeffrey Shabanowitz

George C Stafford, Jr

Christopher Mullen

Lee Earley

The invention provides improvements in reagents for use in electron transfer dissociation ionization techniques for use in mass spectrometry, particularly for sequencing peptides and proteins using mass spectrometric techniques involving electrospray ionization and MS/MS characterization of fragment ions. The novel reagents used in the inventive methods allow for more effective determination of protein sequences, especially of long peptides or post-translationally modified protein fragments. Use of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons azulene, homoazulene, and acenaphthylene, and homodimers and heterodimers thereof, are described.

Reagents for electron transfer dissociation in mass spectrometry analysis

A front-end reagent ion source for a mass spectrometer is disclosed. Reagent vapor is supplied to a reagent ionization volume located within a chamber of the mass spectrometer and maintained at a low vacuum pressure. Reagent ions are formed by interaction of the reagent vapor molecules with an electrical discharge (e.g., a glow discharge) within the ionization volume, and pass into the chamber of the mass spectrometer. At least one ion optical element located along the analyte ion path transports the reagent ions to successive chambers of the mass spectrometer. The reagent ions may be combined with the analyte ions to perform ion-ion studies such as electron transfer dissociation (ETD).

Method and apparatus for generation of reagent ions in a mass spectrometer

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Charlottesville, VA, United States of America

Philip D Compton