The developments in mass spectrometry over the past fifteen years have been impressive in their implications in bioanalytical chemistry. The achievements begin with the inventions of Cf-252 Plasma Desorption Mass Spectrometry by Macfarlane and Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry by Comisarow and Marshall in the mid 1970s. The former showed the feasibility of producing large gas-phase ions from large biomolecules whereas the latter enhanced the capabilities for ion trapping especially in analytical mass spectrometry. A major achievement was the development by Barber of Fast Atom Bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry, an advance that heralded a new era in biological mass spectrometry. Contemporary and routine instruments such as magnetic sectors and quadrupoles were rapidly adapted to F AB, and nearly the entire universe of small molecules became amenable to study by mass spectrometry. The introduction of FAB also paved the way for improvement of instrument capability. For example, the upper mass limit of magnet sector mass spectrometers was increased by nearly an order of magnitude by the instrument manufacturers. Furthermore, the technique of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was given new meaning because important structural information for biomolecules could now be produced for ions introduced by FAB into the tandem instrument. The evolution of MS/MS continues today with the development of ion traps, time-of-flight, and sector instruments equipped with array detection.

Inhalt
I: Instrumentation for Mass Analysis and Detection.- 1. Sectors and Tandem Sectors.- 2. Hybrid Tandem Mass Spectrometry.- 3. Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry.- 4. Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometers for Studies of Biomolecules.- 5. Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry: Features, Principles, Capabilities, and Limitations.- 6. Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometers.- 7. Ion Detection in Mass Spectrometry.- II: Methods in Mass Spectrometry.- 8. Electrospray Mass Spectrometry.- 9. Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry. Part I: Basic Mechanisms and Techniques.- 10. Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry. Part II: Performance and Applications of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization of Large Biomolecules.- 11. Laser Desorption, Chemical Ionization, and Laser Desorption/Chemical Ionization Applications with Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry.- 12. Plasma Desorption Mass Spectrometry: Principles and Applications to Protein Studies.- 13. Continuous Flow Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry in Analytical Biochemistry.- 14. Combined Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS): A Review.- 15. Combined Supercritical Fluid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (SFC/MS).- 16. Determination of Biomolecules by Using Liquid Chromatography and Thermospray Mass Spectrometry: from Penicillins to Peptides.- 17. Neutralization-Reionization Mass Spectrometry: Fundamental Studies and Analytical Applications.- 18. Some Applications of the Quantum-Mechanical Semiempirical Methods to the Gas-Phase Chemistry of Bio-Organic Ions.- III: Applications to Biomolecules.- 19. Characterization of Human Hemoglobin Variants by Mass Spectrometry.- 20. Detection of Post-Translational Modification of Proteins by Mass Spectrometry.- 21. Manipulation of Experimental Variables for FAB MS and MS/MS to FacilitateIdentification of a Post-Translational Modification in Rabbit Elongation Factor l?.- 22. Use of FAB MS and MS/MS in the Structural Determinations of Cockroach Neuropeptides.- 23. The Mass Spectrometric Determination of Retro-Inverso Linear Peptides.- 24. Mass Spectrometry in Studies of O-Linked Glycopeptides Isolated from Natural and Recombinant Glycoproteins.- 25. Nucleosides and Oligonucleotides: Structures and Principles of Reactivity from Mass Spectrometry.- 26. Application of Tandem Mass Spectrometry to Carcinogen-Modified Nucleosides.- 27. Structure Determination of Lipids: Comparison of Classical Methods and New Approaches Involving Charge-Remote Fragmentation.- 28. The Use of FAB-MS of Cellular Lipids for the Characterization of Medically Important Bacteria.- 29. Structural Analysis of Phosphatidylinositol from Carrot Cell Membranes by Fast Atom Bombardment and Tandem Mass Spectrometry.