METHOD FOR ESTIMATING MOLECULAR-MASS FROM ELECTROSPRAY SPECTRA

A multiplicative correlation algorithm (MCA) is used to estimate the m ass of macromolecules from the mass-to-charge spectra produced by elec trospray ionization mass spectrometry. When compared with previous alg orithms for processing electrospray spectra, the MCA allows accurate m ass determinations with a reduced quantity of sample. The performance of the MCA improves as the signal from the molecular ion is distribute d across an increasing number of charge states, as the range of mass-t o-charge values used to calculate the mass spectrum are constrained, a nd as noise is excluded from the calculations. The molecular ion peak in the mass spectrum increases exponentially with analyte concentratio n and ultimately limits the dynamic range of the measurement.