Important Deadlines
September 20 - Travel Stipends for Students and Post-docs
October 18 - Workshop Registration. Fees increase after October 18, registration will remain open only if space available.
October 22 - Hotel Reservations at Sonesta Hotel
Introduction
Interest in direct analyses increases, fueled by the utility of ambient ionization and sub-micron emitters. Ultra-low sample consumption and elevated tolerance to ionic contaminants are major benefits delivered by emerging technologies, but the new approaches also illuminate fundamental processes powering spray ionization. As ever more capable mass analyzers increase the temptation to forego hyphenated separations for simpler, faster MS-only direct analyses, the Achilles heel of direct analysis resurfaces: ion suppression (competition for ionization) coupled to limited dynamic range for complex samples.
Increasing the depth (dynamic range) and width (in-scan universality) of direct analysis mass spectrometry drives continued interest in ionization mechanisms. Another impetus for fundamentally understanding ionization and macroion structure is mass spectrometry’s increasing importance to protein analysis and structural biology, especially as they relate to protein therapeutics. Recent MS studies have questioned entrenched ideas about ionization mechanisms, re-examining ideas about the importance and abundance of opposing charges in analyte charge state distributions, intramolecular salt bridges and the nature of gas phase protein ion structures. Charge manipulation tools now extend practical analytical capabilities while assisting us in probing fundamental questions and testing assertions.
This workshop will provide a broad perspective on the capabilities of electrospray-based ionization methods, covering both direct and ambient ionization approaches. It will highlight how mechanistic knowledge of the electrospray process can inform the development of new methods, and improve existing applications as diverse as native protein analysis, the study of enzymatic reactions, mass spectrometry imaging and other powerful developing ESI-based methodologies. The program is intended to interest both beginning and experienced mass spectrometrists.