title: Analysis of self-assembled monolayer interfaces by electrospray mass spectrometry: a gentle approach.
abstract: A general mass spectrometry technique for the characterization of alkanethiol-modified surfaces is presented. Alkanethiol self-assembled onto a gold surface (in this case, peptides were attached to the gold surface via a thiolate bond) was reductively desorbed in 0.05 M KOH in the presence of octadecyl-derivatized silica gel. The peptide adsorbed onto the silica gel, whereupon it could be filtered, washed to remove any salts, and then eluted using a mixture of 4:1 v/v methanol/water. The eluant containing the peptide was injected into a Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FTICR/MS) via electrospray ionization. The spectrum showed no fragmentation of the peptide, demonstrating the gentleness of the technique. This simple procedure is not limited to FTICR/MS and could be adapted to other mass spectrometers.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Wenrong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gary D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: D Brynn
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hibbert
authors.forename: J Justin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gooding
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D058428:Silica Gel; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D058428:Silica Gel; D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide