Note: Laser-induced acoustic desorption∕synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry for analysis of fragile compounds and heavy oils.

In this work, we coupled synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization (SVUV PI) method with the laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) technique for mass spectrometric analysis. The LIAD technique is a "soft" desorption method, which could avoid the degradation of analytes during desorption process. Meanwhile, SVUV PI is an efficient "soft" ionization source. The new combination of the "soft" desorption technique and "soft" photoionization method is well suitable to reduce the difficulty for interpreting the mass spectra of the fragile compounds and heavy oils.