THE INFLUENCE OF LASER POWER ON THE OBSERVED MALDI-TOF MASS-SPECTRA OF POLY(DIETHYL 3-HYDROXYGLUTARATE), AN AB(2) HYPERBRANCHED ALIPHATIC POLYESTER - MN FROM MALDI-TOF MS - CAVEAT-EMPTOR

Oligomers of poly(diethyl 3-hydroxyglutarate), an aliphatic hyperbranc hed polyester, have been prepared via a titanium(IV) butoxide catalyse d step growth condensation process. The characterisation of the produc ts depends on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry; this study establishes that the incident laser power has a marked effect on the distribution of p eak intensities in the spectra observed for these systems. High laser powers can initiate scissions in the polymer structure, whilst at lowe r incident laser power it is very difficult to define what constitutes a ''representative spectrum''.