title: Post-source decay time-of-flight study of fragmentation mechanisms of protonated synthetic polymers under matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization conditions.
abstract: Post-source decay (PSD) of three different nylon oligomers desorbed under matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) conditions was studied and their fragmentation pathways were investigated. The fragmentation of the protonated oligomers is very similar to that of peptides. The b(n)(+), y(n)(+) and z(n)(+) series of ions were observed in abundance in the PSD spectrum. The end groups and the length of the spacer in the repeating unit influence the fragmentation of the different polyamides and the relative abundances of the product ions. Competitive dehydration and deamination reactions were observed, and depend on the nature of the end groups and the repeating units. The PSD spectra are very similar to collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra obtained under low-energy conditions, implying that the selected precursor ions possess similar average internal energies. All the peaks observed in the PSD spectrum can be rationalized by reasonable fragmentation mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Structurale Organique et Biologique, CNRS UMR 7613, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marie
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lesage
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bolbach
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tabet