Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Structural Characterization of Mannan Cell Wall Polysaccharides in Plants Using PACE
Published on: October 16, 2017
Characterisation of polysaccharides by in-source pyrolysis positive- and negative-ion direct chemical ionisation-mass
J A Lomax1, J J Boon, R A Hoffmann
1Unit for Mass Spectrometry of Macromolecular Systems, FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Series of oligosaccharide ions have been generated from a range of polysaccharides by the application of in-source pyrolysis mass spectrometry, using both ammonia positive-ion chemical ionisation and negative-ion chlorine-nucleophilic-addition ionisation. Glucans with alpha-(1----6), beta-(1----6), alpha-(1----4), beta-(1----4), beta-(1----3), and beta-(1----2) linkages were studied, together with pentosans, xyloglucans, and an arabinogalactan. The series of ions correspond to intact, desorbed oligosaccharides with a terminal anhydro-sugar unit, and to similar oligosaccharides with attached sugar ring-cleavage fragments. The ions generated are dependent on the position of the linkage and ring size, and retain significant information on the structure of the original polysaccharide.
Related Concept Videos
Mass Spectrometry: Overview
Chemical Ionization (CI) Mass Spectrometry
High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS)
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Mass Spectrum: Interpretation
Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS): Overview

