Desorption/ionization mass spectrometry on nanocrystalline titania sol-gel-deposited films.

This paper describes a matrix-free method for performing desorption/ionization directly from mesoporous nanocrystalline titania sol-gel thin films, which have good absorption capacity in the ultraviolet (UV) range and can act as assisting materials during UV matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric (MALDI-MS) analysis. A high concentration of citrate buffer was added into this system to provide the proton source and to reduce the presence of alkali cation adducts of the analytes. The analyte signals appear uniformly over the whole sample deposition area. Protonated molecules (MH(+) ions) of analytes dominate the titania MALDI mass spectra. Surfactants, peptides, tryptic digest products, and small proteins with molecular weights below ca. 24 000 Da, are observed in the titania MALDI mass spectra. Detection limits for insulin are as low as ca. 2 fmol with mass resolution of ca. 660. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.