Date of Award

Summer 2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Scott A. McLuckey

Committee Member 1

Mary J. Wirth

Committee Member 2

Marcy H. Towns

Abstract

The advent of Electrospray Ionization with the ability to generate multiply charges ions has contributed significantly to the study of gas-phase ion/ion reactions. With the tools available in mass spectrometry it has been shown that these reactions are effective at transforming one type of gaseous ion into another through a series of reactions. This work examines some of these reactions and their application to field of proteomics specifically focusing on the amino acids of arginine and lysine. NHS reagents have been shown to react to both of these molecules with in the gas-phase under different conditions but have relies on negatively charged reagent ions. The effect of a positively fixed-charge reagent in investigated through a series of reactions and compared to the effects observed in the positive mode.

Additionally arginine has been shown to form non-covalent interactions with the sites of phosphorylation of phosphopeptides, a type of biologically important post translational modification. Though the use of this interaction it was observed if ion/ion reactions could aide in the simplification of a digest analysis. Through these non-covalent interactions it may be possible to selectively alter the charge of the analyte to allow for easier detection.

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