Boron released from borosilicate glass forms unusual in situ derivatives in MALDI-MS

摘要

We demonstrate that boron can form unusual in situ derivatives of glycoconjugates such as glycans and glycopeptides in a MALDI-MS experiment. As a result, glycoconjugate signals are accompanied by artifact signals of +8n Da, interfering with spectral interpretation. The boron contamination source appeared to be TFA aqueous solutions used for preparing glycopeptide samples, which were stored in borosilicate glassware. It is clearly preferable to have no contact with borosilicate glass during all experiment procedures, but this is not practical. Boron can probably be released from borosilicate glassware by any solvent to a greater or lesser extent. To minimize the risk of boron contamination, we suggest using PFA bottles for storage of solvents as often as possible.