For 10 points, name this ion generation technique often used to analyze protein molecular weight, in which the analyte is embedded in a organic acid matrix.
The "lucky survivors" model of this process was described by one of its original developers and aims to explain the observation fast metastable fragmentation as an outcome of partial neutralization. Knoechnmuss and colleagues have studied the roles of secondary reactions within the plume on the final spectra yielded by this technique. The laser pulse used in this technique is usually in the ultraviolet range, where DHB, sialic acid, and other reagents used to embed the analyte in this process can strongly absorb. Developed roughly simultaneously by Tanaka and by Karas and Hillenkamp, this technique yields mainly singly charged ions with minimal fragmentation, unlike a similar soft ionization technique, electrospray ionization. Like ESI, it is typically coupled to a time-of-flight mass analyzer for analysis of protein size. For 10 points, name this ion generation technique often used to analyze protein molecular weight, in which the analyte is embedded in a organic acid matrix.
The "lucky survivors" model of this process was described by one of its original developers and aims to explain the observation fast metastable fragmentation as an outcome of partial neutralization.
matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization [accept MALDI-mass spec; accept MALDI-time of flight is acceptable]