Acylhydrazide and Isatin Schiff Bases as Alternate UV-Laser Desorption Ionization (LDI) Matrices for Low Molecular Weight (LMW) Peptides Analysis

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) is a preferred and widely used mass spectrometric technique for the analysis of macromolecules. Limited UV-LDI matrices are available for the analysis of biomolecules due to the restricted structural features to serve in the laser desorption/ionization mechanism with a problem of background signals appearing in the low mass region. This paper describes the application of Schiff base derivatives of acylhydrazide and isatin as alternate UV-LDI matrices for the analysis of peptides with significantly low background signals. Thirty one compounds have been successfully employed as matrices for the analysis of low molecular weight (LMW) peptides (<2000 Da) including bradykinin and renin substrate tetra-decapeptide. Bovine serum albumin (BSA)-digest was also analyzed and identified through database search against Swiss-Prot by using MASCOT. The MS measurements were recorded by using dried droplet sample preparation procedures by mixing the matrix solution with analyte at a volume ratio of 1:2. Finally, LMW organic compounds (<500 Da) were also analyzed by the synthesized matrix materials which showed better S/N ratios and minimal background signals for low mass range in comparison to the comparable results with α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA), a preferred choice for peptide analysis.