Publisher's Synopsis
The purpose of this book is to give the reader, both the novice and the authority, a presentation of the application of mass spectrometry to a variety of biological problems. It begins by giving an overview of mass spectrometry, including a review of some of the recent advances that make this field of analytical biochemistry so exciting. Each subsequent chapter is prepared by an authority in the field. The chapters are not a compilation of methods but, rather, they provide insight into approaches that mass spectroscopists have used to solve these problems. Each chapter provides guidance in using appropriate methods for isolation and purification of the compound class prior to analysis or characterization by mass spectrometry. It also provides a tutorial on mass spectral interpretation based on the fragmentation pathways usually encountered for the particular compound type. In many cases, chemical modification of the parent compound and corresponding mass shifts in the spectrum are co-ordinated through reaction schemes and didactic descriptions.;Modern approaches to analysis based on fast-atom bombardment are described in conjunction with the more conventional analysis by electron impact and chemical- ionization mass spectrometry.
