The basics of mass spectrometry in the twenty-first century

Mass spectrometry has become an indispensable analytical tool in all types of drug discovery applications.Development of two ionization techniques, electrospray (ESI) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), has revolutionized the applicability of mass spectrometry to almost any biological molecule.Many types of mass analyzers can be used in drug discovery applications, but the majority of the work is done with quadrupoles, quadrupole ion traps, and time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry is playing an increasingly important role as a mass analyzer.Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a crucial technique in many applications related to drug discovery. MS/MS involves multiple stages of mass analysis.Quadrupole ion traps and FT-ICR mass spectrometers perform MS/MS by separating the stages in time. Other combinations of analyzers such as quadrupole/time-of-flight and multiple quadrupole mass spectrometers perform MS/MS using sequential analyzers.

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