ABSTRACT
The applications of mass spectrometry are very numerous.1) The first field of application is in the identification of pure compounds. A mass spectrum of a pure compound provides several kinds of data that are useful for its identification. In the chapter, the determination of molecular weights is mentioned. The identification can be carried out by characterization of fragments of the fragmentation of the compound or by calculating the ratios of the height of different peaks which is the molecular one. It can also result from a comparative study of varied fragmentations.2) Mass spectrometry possesses numerous applications in biology; for example, the analysis of peptides, polypeptides and proteins (peptide sequencing), the analysis of oligonucleotides, the analysis of oligosaccharides and the analysis of lipides. 3) Several methodologies have been developed to interpret complicated spectra, notably mixtures. They are hyphenated mass spectral methods among them one finds tandem mass spectrometry, the chromatography/spectrometry of mass in particular gas chromatography and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Finally, mass spectrometry gives rise to quantitative organic, biological and more rarely inorganic analysis.
