A tandem mass spectrometer for crossed-beam irradiation of mass-selected molecular systems by keV atomic ions

Rev Sci Instrum. 2018 Apr;89(4):043104. doi: 10.1063/1.5023182.

Abstract

In the present paper, we describe a new home-built crossed-beam apparatus devoted to ion-induced ionization and fragmentation of isolated biologically relevant molecular systems. The biomolecular ions are produced by an electrospray ionization source, mass-over-charge selected, accumulated in a 3D ion trap, and then guided to the extraction region of an orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Here, the target molecular ions interact with a keV atomic ion beam produced by an electron cyclotron resonance ion source. Cationic products from the collision are detected on a position sensitive detector and analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A detailed description of the operation of the setup is given, and early results from irradiation of a protonated pentapeptide (leucine-enkephalin) by a 7 keV He+ ion beam are presented as a proof-of-principle.

MeSH terms

  • Electrons
  • Enkephalin, Leucine / chemistry
  • Equipment Design
  • Gases / chemistry
  • Helium / chemistry
  • Ions / chemistry
  • Kinetics
  • Proof of Concept Study
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / instrumentation*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / instrumentation*

Substances

  • Gases
  • Ions
  • Helium
  • Enkephalin, Leucine