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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Feb 12.
Published in final edited form as: J Mass Spectrom. 2008 Sep;43(9):1215–1223. doi: 10.1002/jms.1398

Table 1.

Troubleshooting guide for SPE of glycoprotein carbohydrates released by reductive β-elimination

MALDI analyte/matrix spots Cause Comments
• Clear, translucent sample spots with no crystal definition Excess base (NaBH4 + NaOH) from β-elimination reaction SPE cartridge requires more thorough desalting with H2O prior to elution of glycans
• Poor MALDI-FT-ICR-MS data
• Dark sample spots with no crystal definition Excess base (NaBH4 + NaOH) from β-elimination reaction and HCl from base neutralization SPE requires more thorough desalting with H2O prior to elution of glycans
• Poor MALDI-FT-ICR-MS data
• Sample spots appear normal with good crystal definition Excess H2O desalting of SPE cartridge prior to elution, or too fast a washing rate • Slow desalting rate (~1 ml/min)
• Poor MALDI-FT-ICR-MS data • Fine-tune volume of desalting wash to sample size

Note: In the presence of excess HCl, spots appeared normal with good crystal definition and no apparent effects on MALDI-FT-ICR-MS data.