Handbook on Mass Spectrometry: Instrumentation, Data & Analysis, & Applications

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique for the determination of the elemental composition of a sample or molecule. It is also used for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds. MS instruments consist of three modules: an ion source, which splits the sample molecules into ions; a mass analyser, which sorts the ions by their masses by applying electromagnetic fields; and a detector, which measures the value of an indicator quantity and thus provides data for calculating the abundances of each ion present. The technique has both qualitative and quantitative uses. These include identifying unknown compounds, determining the isotopic composition of elements in a molecule, and determining the structure of a compound by observing its fragmentation. Other uses include quantifying the amount of a compound in a sample or studying the fundamentals of gas phase ion chemistry. MS is now in very common use in analytical laboratories that study physical, chemical, or biological properties of a great variety of compounds. This book gathers the latest research from around the globe in the field.