A Mass Spectrometric Approach to the Chemical Assay Problem of Combinatorial Libraries

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) is supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program. During the tenure of this twelve-month standard grant, Professor Winograd and his research group at the Pennsylvania State University will explore the feasibility of using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) methods for the chemical analysis of combinatorial libraries. The molecular specificity of TOF-SIMS methods, coupled with the two-dimensional spatial resolution of a rastered ion beam, will be used to analyze combinatorial libraries formed on Merrifield bead substrates. Success in this endeavor will enhance the speed with which such libraries can be analyzed and accelerate progress in the area of combinatorial methods of synthesis. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry is an extremely powerful technique for molecular identification and quantification. The inclusion of rastered ion beam technology adds two-dimensional spatial resolution to this analytical capability and suggests a method for the rapid analysis of `libraries` of chemical compounds produced by combinatorial synthetic methods. Professor Nicholas Winograd and his students at Penn State University will determine the feasibility of this analytical approach with support from this Small Grant for Exploratory Research. The development of successful strategies for combinatorial library analysis will assist markedly in the advancement of this area of synthetic chemistry.