Can anyone comment on the performance of 98, 99 & 99.5 % DHBA from Sigma for MALDI-TOF/TOF? There is a rather large difference in price, so I am wondering how much of an impact an extra percent or so of purity has on performance?
Generally speaking, matrices of high purity improve the quality of MALDI-TOF mass spectra and increase the limits of detection by reducing the background noise. The quality of matrices (and obviously solvent) is of critical importance because all the contaminants present in a given matrix are concentrated on the MALDI plate after the evaporation of the solvent.
If you have time, a cheap solution could be the recrystallization of the matrix. You can find many easy recipes on the Internet. In the laboratory, we personally use recrystallization of DHB to remove interfering peaks coming from the matrix.
I agree with Patrick, his reply is exhausting. Nevertheless, you should take into account your own task. Obviously in some applications the matrix purity is of critical importance (for instance protein sequencing) but in some cases the cheap matrix preparation works good (determination of molecular weight distribution of polymers as an example).
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Philosophy
- Philosophy Of Science
- Reasoning