Analysis of Arginine, glucose, sucrose, and polyethylene glycols using a wood charcoal matrix for MALDI-MS

Abstract

Wood charcoal was investigated to determine its potential as an alternative matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization of various samples. Wood charcoal was an effective matrix for analyzing glucose, sucrose, arginine, and polyethylene glycols (PEGs), with detection levels of 100 pmol for glucose, 1 nmol for sucrose, 100 pmol for arginine, 100 pmol for PEG 400, 1 pmol for PEG 1540, and 10 pmol for PEG 3350. No analyte signal was observed for peptides or proteins.