Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques
Open Access
ISSN: 2157-7064
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2157-7064
+44 1300 500008
Rodolphe Antoine
University of Lyon, France
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Chromatogr Sep Tech
Within the past two decades, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has become a cornerstone technique for analyzing large intact biomolecules of all types, and is ideally suitable for compounds with molecular weight (MW) below 100 kDa. Analysis of large molecules (i.e. megadalton compounds for which MW>1 MDa) is difficult, in part due to the low efficiency of ion detectors of mass spectrometers in this range of size. Notable improvements were obtained with the development of the chargesensitive technique for macroion detection. Charge detection mass spectrometry (CD-MS) can quantify the charge on an individual ion and its mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio. In this work, we used the charge detection mass spectrometry combined to ESI technique for weighing large DNAs, nanoparticles and biopolymer self-assemblies in the megadalton to gigadalton range of molecular weight. This work also presents the implementation of tandem mass spectrometry for experiments on single electrosprayed ions from compounds of megadalton (MDa) molecular weight, using two charge detection devices. Single MDa ions can be stored for several dozen milliseconds. During the trapping time, single ions can be irradiated by a continuous wavelength CO2 laser. Illustration of infrared multiphoton dissociation tandem mass spectrometry are given for single megadalton ions of poly(ethylene oxide)s and DNAs. Finally, I will present the recent results on the coupling between charge detection mass spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography for the characterization of polymers of ultra-high molecular weight.