Influence of Alkali Metal Cation Type on Ionization Characteristics of Carbohydrates in ESI-MS

Influence of Alkali Metal Cation Type on Ionization Characteristics of Carbohydrates in ESI-MS

Alkali metal salts were introduced to enhance the ionization efficiency of glucose and maltooligoses in electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). A mixture of the same moles of glucose, maltose, maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, and maltoheptaose was used. Salts of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium were employed as the cationizing agent. The ionization efficiency varied with the alkali metal cation types as well as the analyte sizes. Ion abundance distribution of the [M+$cation]^+$ ions of the carbohydrates varied with the fragmentor voltage. The maximum ion abundance at low fragmentor voltage was observed at maltose, while the maximum ion abundance at high fragmentor voltage shifted to maltotriose or maltotetraose for Na, K, and Cs. Variation of the ionization efficiency was explained with the hydrated cation size and the binding energy of the analyte and alkali metal cation.