Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of biopolymers.

Analytical chemists and biochemists have long sought accurate, sensitive methods for determining the molecular masses of biopolymers such as proteins and carbohydrates. Traditional mass spectrometric methods, which proved so useful for measuring compounds with low molecular masses, were of little use for measuring underivatized compounds with high molecular masses. These methods require that the biopolymer molecules normally present in the condensed phase be converted into intact, isolated ionized molecules in the gas phase. This conversion is difficult to achieve because biopolymers