Our laboratory is also interested in some of the fundamental aspects of mass spectrometry. We have several areas we would like to study. The first is the optical spectroscopic properties of MALDI matries. These properties affect the efficiency of the ionization process. We plan to systematically measure the absorbance, luminescence, and quantum yields of a large variety of MALDI matrices. This data will be summed and correlated with ionization efficiencies. The second area of interest is in electrochemical reactions induced in the ESI source. Gas-phase ion production is achieved by delivering an analyte solution through a capillary maintained at a high potential forming the basis of an electrode at which chemical reactions can be induced. Study of model thiol containing species can provide a better understanding of the electrochemistry of sulfur containing amino acids found in peptides and proteins. The third area of interest is microscale LC/MS and CE/MS. As column diameter decreases, column resolving power increases; thus improving the capabilities of the technique. Also as you downscale the separation technique, you reduce the amount of material necessary for analysis. Due to these benefits, we will pursue the development of capillary (<500 µm) LC/MS and CE/MS.

Zhaoyang Liu