Analysis of poly (arylene phosphonate) cyclic oligomer by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MAIDI-TOF-MS) was used for analysis of poly(arylene phosphonate) cyclic oligomers. A comparison was made by using 1,8,9-dithranol, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and retinoic acid as the matrix. The result showed that the retinoic acid produced the strongest ion signals under the conditions used. Different salts of metals were used as the cationization agents to examine the effect on the cyclic oligomers. It was found that the salts could produce metal-cyclic oligomer cation spectra and lithium was the stronger one than those of silver so, the suitable matrix and cationization agent for the new cyclic oligmer were obtained. They were very effective for the analysis of poly(arylene phosphonate) cyclic oligomer.