Ionic Liquids Matrices for Laser Assisted Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

This review article discussed application of ionic liquids as matrices (ILMs) for mass spectrometry (MS). ILMs were applied for matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization, matrices assisted electrospray ionization (ILMs-ESI-MS) and desorption corona beam ionization (DCBI-MS).

Ionic liquids matrices provided several advantages such as low vapor pressure, have high stability for storage and under vacuum, extremely high sensitivity and showed low background or interferences.

They are non-explosive, non-flammable and are thermally stable. The materials are promising for real measurements and require further investigations to improve the current performance.

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Ionic Liquids Matrices for Laser Assisted Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Room-temperature ionic liquids (RTIL) are molten salts with melting point below 100 °C. They have distinctive properties and thus they were used for catalysis, separations, mass spectrometry, and other.

They have been applied as ion pairing reagent for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), solvent for liquid-liquid extraction, stationary phases for chromatography and as solvents in electrochemistry. The materials have many properties that enhanced and improved the analysis using mass spectrometry.

In general, the typical mass spectrometer is consist of five parts; inlet for the sample, ion source, analyzer, detector and vacuum. The main roles of ionic liquids in mass spectrometry are mainly focused in the improvement of the analyte ionization, as solvent and as ion-pairing reagent for ESI-MS.The present review is a tutorial article for researchers who seek about the application of ionic liquids for mass spectrometry.

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