FT/ICR/MS:Technique Development and Non-Biological Applications

该项目属于分析和表面化学的一般领域，以及质谱学的子领域。这项实验计划的主要目的是开发傅里叶变换质谱仪(FTMS)，利用它可以在显著提高信噪比的情况下进行超高质量分辨率和质量精度测量。这些仪器改进的核心是通过用非磁性材料构建俘获离子池并采用新的池几何结构来降低7特斯拉超导螺线管中的磁场静态不均匀性，探索FTMS仪器中的噪声的性质和限制，以及通过使用新的激励和检测技术来增强与这种噪声相关的分析信号。随着新开发的快速中性束流离子源的使用，FTMS的灵敏度有望进一步提高，特别是对于难以电离的样品。将这一改进的仪器应用于各种分析和力学问题，应该会在团簇的化学和物理、聚合物的表征、气相离子-分子化学以及电极表面成分的表征方面产生新的见解。此外，从这项研究中得到的改进的FTMS技术有望在生物科学中产生广泛和积极的影响。

This project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of mass spectrometry. The primary thrust of this experimental program is the development of a Fourier transform mass spectrometer (FTMS) with which ultrahigh mass resolution and mass accuracy measurements can be made at significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios. Central to these instrumentation improvements is the reduction of magnetic field static inhomogeneity in the 7 Tesla superconducting solenoid by constructing the trapped-ion cell from non-magnetic materials and employing new cell geometries, exploration of the nature and limits to noise in the FTMS instrument, and enhancement of the analytical signal relative to this noise through use of new excitation and detection techniques. Further improvements in FTMS sensitivity, especially for difficult-to-ionize samples, can be expected with the use of a newly developed fast neutral beam ion source. Applications of this improved instrument to various analytical and mechanistic problems should give rise to new insights in the chemistry and physics of clusters, in the characterization of polymers, in gas phase ion-molecule chemistry, and in the characterization of electrode surface constituents. Additionally, the improved FTMS technology that derives from this research can be expected to impact broadly and positively in the biosciences.