Mass spectrometry of nucleotides and oligonucleotides

Recent advances in the use of mass spectrometry for the determination of the molecular weight and sequencing of oligonucleotides are discussed. Matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry have been shown to be especially important techniques for both molecular weight assignment and sequencing of oligonucleotides, and are the focus of this article which covers the literature through early 1996.