Reverse‐phase liquid chromatography/electrospray‐ionization Fourier‐transform mass spectrometry in the analysis of peptides

Abstract

Abstract Electrospray ionization (ESI) in combination with Fourier‐transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) gives both highly accurate mass analysis of peptides with external calibration and high resolution for charge‐state determination of an ion from the naturally occurring isotopic peaks. Liquid chromatographic (LC) separation of peptides is important for the analysis of complex mixtures. High‐resolution, high accuracy measurement of the molecular ions of the mix of peptides has been achieved with LC/ESI‐FTMS. Examples are given to show both the reproducibility of mass accuracy over replicate analyses and to show the utility of broadband analysis of a gradient separation of peptides. The high mass accuracy and resolution of FTMS was uncompromised for the direct analysis of chromatography peaks.