Particle induced desorption and the analysis of large molecules

This opening lecture in the Texas Symposium on Particle Induced Desorption is intended to reflect on the state of the art, and to pose questions to the instrumentalists, the theoreticians and the analytical/bioorganic chemists participating in the three respective subdivisions of the symposium. Recent studies from our laboratory are discussed which investigate the information which can be deduced from the molecular ion envelope of an unknown middle mass or large molecule, evaluate the need for unit resolution above 5000 amu, and illustrate the ability of particle induced desorption to provide stable isotope analyses, absolute and relative quantitation in mixtures, as well as molecular weights and structural information.