Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics

Mass Spectrometry is a micro-analytical technique that requires only a few nanomoles of sample to obtain characteristic information on the structure and molecular mass of the compound to be studied. This is a destructive technique in which the sample is consumed during the analysis. Some form of energy is transferred to the molecule resulting in the ionisation of the molecule in all techniques used for mass spectrometry. In most cases, the molecular ion (ion resulting from the ionisation of the molecule that represents it and is the precursor of all the fragments that make up the mass spectrum) of the sample ‘explodes’ into a variety of fragments (fragmentation pattern). The products formed are gas-phase ions in which their masses and relative abundances make up the mass spectrum.