Desorption Electrospray Ionization Imaging of Small Organics on Mineral Surfaces

Protocol
First Online:
Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB, volume 1203)

Abstract

Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)-mass spectrometry facilitates the ambient chemical analysis of a variety of surfaces. Here we describe the protocol for using DESI imaging to measure the distributions of small prebiotically relevant molecules on granite surfaces. Granites that contain a variety of juxtaposed mineral species were reacted with formamide in order to study the role of local mineral environment on the production of purines and pyrimidines. The mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) methods described here can also be applied to the surface analysis of rock samples involved in other applications such as petroleum or environmental chemistries.

Key words

Desorption electrospray ionization Ambient mass spectrometry Imaging Prebiotic chemistry Minerals Formamide 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. 1.
    Takáts Z, Wiseman JM, Gologan B, Cooks RG (2004) Mass spectrometry sampling under ambient conditions with desorption electrospray ionization. Science 306(5695):471–473. doi: 10.1126/science.1104404 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Venter A, Sojka PE, Cooks RG (2006) Droplet dynamics and ionization mechanisms in desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 78(24):8549–8555. doi: 10.1021/ac0615807 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Costa AB, Cooks RG (2007) Simulation of atmospheric transport and droplet-thin film collisions in desorption electrospray ionization. Chem Commun 38:3915–3917CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Costa AB, Graham Cooks R (2008) Simulated splashes: elucidating the mechanism of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Chem Phys Lett 464(1–3):1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.cplett.2008.08.020 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    Nemes P, Vertes A (2007) Laser ablation electrospray ionization for atmospheric pressure, in vivo, and imaging mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 79(21):8098–8106. doi: 10.1021/ac071181r PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    Bennett RV, Cleaves HJ, Davis JM, Sokolov DA, Orlando TM, Bada JL, Fernández FM (2013) Desorption electrospray ionization imaging mass spectrometry as a tool for investigating model prebiotic reactions on mineral surfaces. Anal Chem 85(3):1276–1279. doi: 10.1021/ac303202n PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Miyakawa S, James Cleaves H, Miller S (2002) The cold origin of life: A. Implications based on the hydrolytic stabilities of hydrogen cyanide and formamide. Orig Life Evol Biosph 32(3):195–208. doi: 10.1023/a:1016514305984 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Tian F, Kasting JF, Zahnle K (2011) Revisiting HCN formation in Earth’s early atmosphere. Earth Planet Sci Lett 308(3–4):417–423. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.06.011 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Saladino R, Crestini C, Costanzo G, Negri R, Di Mauro E (2001) A possible prebiotic synthesis of purine, adenine, cytosine, and 4(3H)-pyrimidinone from formamide: implications for the origin of life. Bioorg Med Chem 9(5):1249–1253. doi: 10.1016/s0968-0896(00)00340-0 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Hudson JS, Eberle JF, Vachhani RH, Rogers LC, Wade JH, Krishnamurthy R, Springsteen G (2012) A unified mechanism for abiotic adenine and purine synthesis in formamide. Angew Chem Int Ed 51(21):5134–5137. doi:10.1002/ anie.201108907CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Saladino R, Claudia C, Giovanna C, Ernesto D (2004) Advances in the prebiotic synthesis of nucleic acids bases: implications for the origin of life. Curr Org Chem 8(15):1425–1443. doi: 10.2174/1385272043369836 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Costanzo G, Saladino R, Crestini C, Ciciriello F, Di Mauro E (2007) Formamide as the main building block in the origin of nucleic acids. BMC Evol Biol 7(Suppl 2):S1PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Saladino R, Crestini C, Pino S, Costanzo G, Di Mauro E (2012) Formamide and the origin of life. Phys Life Rev 9(1):84–104. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2011.12.002 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Green FM, Stokes P, Hopley C, Seah MP, Gilmore IS, O’Connor G (2009) Developing repeatable measurements for reliable analysis of molecules at surfaces using desorption electrospray ionization. Anal Chem 81(6):2286–2293. doi: 10.1021/ac802440w PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    Kertesz V, Van Berkel GJ (2008) Scanning and surface alignment considerations in chemical imaging with desorption electrospray mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 80(4):1027–1032. doi: 10.1021/ac701947d PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Crotti S, Traldi P (2009) Aspects of the role of surfaces in ionization processes. Comb Chem High Throughput Screen 12(2):125–136. doi: 10.2174/138620709787315427 PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Van Berkel GJ, Ford MJ, Deibel MA (2005) Thin-layer chromatography and mass spectrometry coupled using desorption electrospray ionization. Anal Chem 77(5):1207–1215. doi: 10.1021/ac048217p PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Shin Y-S, Drolet B, Mayer R, Dolence K, Basile F (2007) Desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry of proteins. Anal Chem 79(9):3514–3518. doi: 10.1021/ac062451t PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Douglass K, Jain S, Brandt W, Venter A (2012) Deconstructing desorption electrospray ionization: independent optimization of desorption and ionization by spray desorption collection. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 23(11):1896–1902. doi: 10.1007/s13361-012-0468-x PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Chemistry and BiochemistryGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaUSA

Personalised recommendations