Vladimir Frankevich

Reduction of Cu(II) in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

The mechanisms of the reduction of Cu(II) in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI) are studied. In MALDI mass spectra, ions cationized by copper mostly contain Cu(I) even if Cu(II) salts are added to the sample. It was found that Cu(II) was reduced to Cu(I) by gas-phase charge exchange with matrix molecules, which is a thermodynamically favorable process. Under some conditions, large amounts of free electrons are present in the plume. Cu(II) can be even more efficiently reduced to Cu(I) by free electron capture in the gas phase. The matrices studied in this work are nicotinic acid, dithranol, and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid.

Clear evidence of fluorescence resonance energy transfer in gas-phase ions

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a distance-sensitive method that correlates changes in fluorescence intensity with conformational changes, for example, of biomolecules in the cellular environment. Applied to the gas phase in combination with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, it opens up possibilities to define structural/conformational properties of molecular ions, in the absence of solvent, and without the need for purification of the sample. For successfully observing FRET in the gas phase it is important to find suitable fluorophores. In this study several fluorescent dyes were examined, and the correlation between solution-phase and gas-phase fluorescence data were studied. For the first time, FRET in the gas phase is demonstrated unambiguously.

The origin of electrons in MALDI and their use for sympathetic cooling of negative ions in FTICR

In MALDI, electrons were found to be formed by the photoelectric effect on the metal/organic matrix interface. The thin layer of organic matrix reduces the metal work function, resulting in a high electron yield in a field-free MALDI source. These electrons were detected in a FTICR mass spectrometer indirectly, by the observation of SF6 − ions, produced by electron capture. The number and velocity distribution of these electrons were estimated. It is shown that the yield of electrons strongly depends on the thickness of the organic sample. In the case of non-metallic substrates or thick matrix layers, much fewer electrons were detected. Electrons confined in a FTICR trap can cool negative ions produced by MALDI by long range Coulomb interaction, thus increasing the resolving power and sensitivity. (Int J Mass Spectrom 220 (2002) 11–19)

Laser-induced fluoresence of trapped gas-phase molecular ions generated by internal source matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer

The combination of laser-induced fluorescence with mass spectrometry opens up new possibilities both for detection purposes and for structural studies of trapped biomolecular ions in the gas phase. However, this approach is experimentally very challenging and only a handful of studies have been reported so far. In this contribution, a novel scheme for laser-induced fluorescence measurements of ions trapped inside a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer will be introduced. It is based on an open FT-ICR cell design, continuous wave axial excitation of the fluorescence, orthogonal photon collection by fiber optics and single photon counting detection. Rhodamine 6G ions generated by an internal matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization source were used to develop and test the set-up. Due to photobleaching processes, the excitation laser power and the observation time window have to be carefully optimized. An ion tomography method was used to align the excitation laser. Potential applications for studying the gas-phase structure of fluorescent biomolecular ions and for investigating fluorescence resonance energy transfer of donor-acceptor pairs will be presented.

Letter: Characteristics of photoelectrons emitted in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance experiments

We show a simple method to study the characteristics of electrons emitted from the metal target in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) experiments. The method is based on measurements of SF6− ion appearance curves by introducing SF6 as a buffer gas into the vacuum chamber during laser desorption. We obtained the energy distribution of emitted electrons, as well as information on their origin and on ion formation mechanisms in MALDI experiments.

Optical properties of protonated Rhodamine 19 isomers in solution and in the gas phase.

Visible light absorption and fluorescence of three positional isomers of protonated Rhodamine 19 (o-, m- and p-R19H(+)) were studied in solution and in the gas phase. In solution, strong solvatochromic effects lead to spectral shifts between rhodamine isomers. In contrast, in the gas phase, these species were found to exhibit very similar fluorescence, while pronounced differences were observed in the absorption spectra. The o-R19H(+) was found to have the largest Stokes shift in the gas phase (around 10 nm), suggesting that an intramolecular relaxation operates in the excited electronic state for this isomer. Several mechanisms for this relaxation are proposed, such as the change of the dihedral angle between the carboxyphenyl group and the xanthene chromophore or that between the carboxylic group and the phenyl ring.

Rhodamines in the gas phase

Optical spectroscopy of biological molecules in the gas phase has recently gained considerable attention, being able to provide complementary structural information in the absence of native matrix. Biomolecules can change their properties when brought into the gas phase, and so can chromophores associated with them. Understanding the photophysics of chromophore labels is central for the correct interpretation of experimental data. In this report, the structure and the optical properties of Rhodamine 19 (R19) in the gas phase were examined by a combination of Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and visible-light laser spectroscopy. While R19 in solution is found either in neutral (R19(n)) or protonated (R19+H(+)) forms, other structures can be generated in the gas phase, such as anions (R19-H(-)) and adducts with metal cations (R19+M(+)). Experimental evidence for the lactone structure of neutral gas-phase R19 is presented for the first time. The different properties of gas-phase compared to solution-phase R19 are discussed in view of structural analysis of labeled gas-phase biological molecules by optical spectroscopy.

Letter: Multiply charged ions in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization generated from electrosprayed sample layers

DOI: 10.1255/ejms.729 ISSN 1356-1049

Probing the mechanisms of ambient ionization by laser‐induced fluorescence spectroscopy

The ionization mechanisms of several atmospheric pressure ion sources based on desorption and ionization of samples deposited on a surface were studied. Home-built desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), laserspray ionization (LSI), and atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (AP-MALDI) sources were characterized using low-molecular-weight compounds, in particular fluorescent dyes. Detection of the desorbed and ionized species was performed by laser-induced fluorescence and ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The dependences of the signal intensities on various experimental parameters were studied. The data obtained reveals common features, such as formation of solvated species and clusters in the ionization processes, in all of the techniques considered.

Native biomolecules in the gas phase? The case of green fluorescent protein.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was ionized by native electrospray ionization and trapped for many seconds in high vacuum, allowing fluorescence emission to be measured as a probe of its biological function, to answer the question whether GFP exists in the native form in the gas phase or not. Although a narrow charge-state distribution, a collision cross-section very close to that expected for correctly folded GFP, and a large stability against dissociation all support a near-native gas-phase structure, no fluorescence emission was observed. The loss of the native form is attributed to the absence of residual water in the gas phase, which normally stabilizes the para-hydroxybenzylidene imidazolone chromophore of GFP.