A new soft ionization technique for mass spectrometry of complex molecules

1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (18) ◽  
pp. 5931-5933 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Blakley ◽  
J. J. Carmody ◽  
M. L. Vestal
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Complex Molecules ◽  
Ionization Technique ◽  
Soft Ionization

Ambient Electric Arc Ionization for Versatile Sample Analysis Using Mass Spectrometry

The Analyst ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanji Gao ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Binpeng Zhan ◽  
Quan He ◽  
Heping Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Electric Arc ◽  
Ion Source ◽  
Sample Analysis ◽  
Ionization Technique ◽  
Soft Ionization

A novel, convenient ambient electric arc ionization (AEAI) device was developed as mass spectrometry ion source for versatile sample analysis. AEAI could be considered as a soft ionization technique in...

scholarly journals Identifying molecules as biosignatures with assembly theory and mass spectrometry

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart M. Marshall ◽  
Cole Mathis ◽  
Emma Carrick ◽  
Graham Keenan ◽  
Geoffrey J. T. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Molecular Assembly ◽  
Detection Experiment ◽  
Complex Molecules ◽  
The World ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
Molecular Complexity ◽  
The Universe

AbstractThe search for alien life is hard because we do not know what signatures are unique to life. We show why complex molecules found in high abundance are universal biosignatures and demonstrate the first intrinsic experimentally tractable measure of molecular complexity, called the molecular assembly index (MA). To do this we calculate the complexity of several million molecules and validate that their complexity can be experimentally determined by mass spectrometry. This approach allows us to identify molecular biosignatures from a set of diverse samples from around the world, outer space, and the laboratory, demonstrating it is possible to build a life detection experiment based on MA that could be deployed to extraterrestrial locations, and used as a complexity scale to quantify constraints needed to direct prebiotically plausible processes in the laboratory. Such an approach is vital for finding life elsewhere in the universe or creating de-novo life in the lab.

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