The liquid secondary ionization mass spectrometry of oligosaccharide a
nions is investigated with an external source quadrupole Fourier trans
form mass spectrometer (FTMS). Selected linear and cyclic oligosacchar
ides are analyzed to determine the performance of the external source
FTMS in the anion mode. Fragmentation behavior of disaccharides is cha
racterized and related to the fragmentation behavior of larger oligome
rs. General correlation is found between the linkages and the fragment
ions observed.