Laser-induced acoustic desorption of natural and functionalized biochromophores

Laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) has recently been established as a tool for analytical chemistry. It is capable of launching intact, neutral, or low charged molecules into a high vacuum environment. This makes it ideally suited to mass spectrometry. LIAD can be used with fragile biomolecules and very massive compounds alike. Here, we apply LIAD time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) to the natural biochromophores chlorophyll, hemin, bilirubin, and biliverdin and to high mass fluoroalkyl-functionalized porphyrins. We characterize the variation in the molecular fragmentation patterns as a function of the desorption and the VUV postionization laser intensity. We find that LIAD can produce molecular beams an order of magnitude slower than matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALD), although this depends on the substrate material. Using titanium foils we observe a most probable velocity of 20 m/s for functionalized molecules with a mass m = 10,000 Da.