Importance

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Abstract

A chemical mixture is conveyed to a multiple charging apparatus, where multiply charged ions are formed. The multiply charged ions are then conveyed to a mass spectrometer which generates mass/charge spectrum data relating intensity to a range of mass/charge values. This mass/charge spectrum data is transformed to generate mass spectrum data relating intensity to a range of mass values. Thereafter, a set of known masses are identified from the mass spectrum data by associating each peak intensity value in the spectrum with its molecular mass. Then a list of mass/charge ratios for each of the identified masses is formed and stored. Next, a range of mass/charge ratios for each mass value of the mass spectrum data is computed. Identification spectrum data is then computed by assigning a value to the identification spectrum from the mass/charge spectrum data: (1) for mass/charge spectrum data corresponding to known masses; and (2) for mass/charge spectrum data which does not correspond to known masses and which does not correspond to a value in the list. Mass values associated with peak intensity values of the resultant identification spectrum are then identified and added to the a list of the known mass values. These steps are repeated under computer control to identify a plurality of mass values.

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First Claim