Syllabus
1. Introduction to mass spectrometry, basic concepts, and history.2. Principles of ion formation. Electrospray ionization. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and photoionization. Electron and chemical ionization. Matrix-assisted laser ionization/desorption.3. Excursion to an external workplace dealing with mass spectrometry.4. Movement of ions in electric and magnetic fields. Time of flight analyzer. Quadrupole analyzer. Ion trap. Orbital trap.5. Ion fragmentation (CID), tandem MS, triple quadrupole, and hybrid instruments. Ion detection and vacuum technology.6. Practical aspects - choice of experiment conditions, operation, and maintenance of spectrometers.7. Interpretation of mass spectra of small molecules.8. Interpretation of mass spectra of small molecules.9. Quantifying small molecules using GC/MS, LC/MS, and CE/MS.10. LC/MS of biomolecules: Proteins, antibodies.11. Data processing and interpretation in proteomics.
Annotation
Basic course in organic mass spectrometry for analytical chemists. The lectures will explain the basic concepts and principles of mass spectrometry. The function of individual parts of spectrometers, i.e., ion sources, ion optics, mass analyzers, ion detectors, and vacuum technology, will be discussed in detail. Attention will be paid to mass-spectrometric detection in chromatographic and electrophoretic separation methods. Applications of mass spectrometry in qualitative and quantitative analysis and practical aspects of analytical measurements, including the operation and maintenance of instruments, will be discussed. The lectures will present applications of mass spectrometry for common organic molecules and large biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. The main content of the exercise will be the interpretation of mass spectra and the interpretation of mass spectrometric data. As part of the exercise, an excursion to an external workplace dealing with mass spectrometry will also be conducted. If epidemiological measures excluding face-to-face teaching are in force, the lectures will take place interactively online using Google Meets or ZOOM.
After completing the course, students will describe the mass spectrometer and the functions of its basic components. They will explain the principles of ionization, mass analysis, and ion detection. They will clarify how to use mass spectrometry and mass spectrometric detection for different types of analytes and analytical problems. They will describe the signals in the mass spectrum and explain the spectrum given the structural formula of the analyte. They will apply the rules of interpretation and determine or estimate an unknown substance's structure based on the mass spectrum.