Award Address (Chemical Instrumentation, sponsored by Dow Chemical Foundation). Ion/ion reactions: new tools, new methodologies, and new insights

ANYL 315

Scott A. McLuckey, mcluckey@purdue.edu, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907
The advent of ionization methods that form multiply charged ions from biomolecules has allowed for the exploration of ion/ion reactions as a new class of chemical reactions in analytical mass spectrometry. Attractive features common to all ion/ion reactions are that they are highly exothermic for virtually any anion/cation combination and that the overall reaction kinetics are independent of the chemical identities of the reactants. The ion/ion reactions of multiply charged peptide and protein ions have been extensively studied. In the course of this research, a number of applications of ion/ion reactions have been developed that are particularly useful for the characterization of biopolymers. These include reactions of various types, with most analytical applications based either on proton transfer reactions, electron transfer reactions, or a combination of the two. Evolution in instrumentation for ion/ion reactions has enabled much of the progress in this area. This presentation summarizes the capabilities of ion/ion reactions in supporting biopolymer characterization and relates recent developments in the fundamental understanding of the dynamics of ion/ion reactions, novel applications, and innovations in instrumentation.