Chemical imaging of organic compounds associated with minerals using Fourier transform mass spectrometry

ANYL 79

Beizhan Yan, Department of Chemistry, University of Idaho-Idaho Falls, 1776 Science Center Drive, Suite 306, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, Daphne L. Stoner, stondl@if.uidaho.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of Idaho--Idaho Falls, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, and Jill R. Scott, jill.scott@inl.gov, Chemical Sciences, Idaho National Laboratory, 2525 N. Fremont Ave., MS 2208, Idaho Falls, ID 83415.
Imaging internal laser-desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry (I2LD-FTMS) is used to produce of chemical images from natural, heterogeneous geomatrix samples and associated organic compounds. The impact of the geomatrix on the laser desorption/ionization process and the resultant mass spectra obtained for biomolecules is critical for detecting and interpreting biosignatures within natural geomatrices. Na-bearing mineral analogues resulted in the ionization and detection of intact amino acids and peptides. Iron-bearing minerals resulted in the formation of highly-fragmented spectral patterns that did not contain the parent ion, presumably due to the excited status of Fe+ in the gas phase that resulted in the breakage of the C-C bonds. However, detection of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) appears to be mineral independent. Compared to other techniques, I2LD-FTMS is suitable for detecting and interpreting biosignatures and organics associated with geomatrices for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial studies.
 

General Papers
7:00 PM-9:00 PM, Sunday, 10 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Poster

Division of Analytical Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006