Low temperature, molecular beams of polyenes (retinol, retinal, a Schiff base retinal, and β-carotene) are formed in jet expansions by CO2 laser-induced desorption from a deposited solid surface. Mass spectra of these intact polyenes are detected by resonantly-enhanced ionization mass spectrometry. Laser-desorption conditions which produce essentially no polyene fragmentation are obtained by controlling the focusing conditions of the CO2 laser on the deposited sample.
Some details of the generation of electrons by impinging a laser beam on a metal surface are described. It is shown that highly efficient electron generation is observed only during the laser pulse. Therefore, this technique delivers intense pulses of electrons. The process is investigated and different ion source set-ups are discussed. In conjunction with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer this technique can be used to produce mass spectra of different samples ranging from simple organic molecules to peptides.
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