Secondary ion mass spectrometery: A new analytical technique for biologically important compounds

Abstract The secondary ion emission of about 40 biologically important compounds including amino acids, peptides, drugs, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, etc. has been determined by static secondary ion mass spectrometry. Unexpected ‘parent‐like’ secondary ions such as M + H+ and M − H−, as well as fragment ions, correlated with functional groups, are emitted with relatively high absolute yields. The secondary ion mass spectra allow an unambiguous identification of all samples with detection limits in the 10 −12 g range.