AUTHOR=Pizzala Hélène , Claeys-Bruno Magalie , Monnier Valérie , Sergent Michelle , Charles Laurence TITLE=Design of Experiments for Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization of Amphiphilic Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-b-Polystyrene Block Copolymers JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.740495 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.740495 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=
Matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI) has become a very popular ionization technique for mass spectrometry of synthetic polymers because it allows high throughput analysis of low amounts of sample while avoiding the complexity introduced by extensive multiple charging of electrospray ionization. Yet, fundamental mechanisms underlying this ionization process are not fully understood, so development of sample preparation methods remains empirical. Reliable prediction for the optimal matrix/analyte/salt system is indeed still not possible for homopolymers and it becomes even more challenging in the case of amphiphilic block copolymers where conditions dictated by one block are not compatible with MALDI requirements of the second block. In order to perform MALDI of copolymers composed of poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polystyrene (PS) blocks, it was postulated here that experimental conditions suitable for both species would also be successful for PEO-