MSPolyCalc: A web-based App for polymer mass spectrometry data interpretation. The case study of a pharmaceutical excipient

Authors

J.S. Desport, G. Frache, and L. Patiny

Reference

Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, doi:10.1002/rcm.8652, art. no. e8652, 2019

Description

Rationale: In contrast to biological polymers, synthetic macromolecules consist of distributions of sizes, chemical compositions, functionalities and eventually architectures. The mass spectrum of a synthetic polymer may exhibit a tremendous number of signals. The availability of suitable IT tools to support interpretation is key. Methods: A web-based tool is presented: MSPolyCalc. It offers a set of functionalities, including the calculation of polymer distributions, molecular formulae and a match evaluation for peak assignment based on both mass and spectral accuracy (similarity score). The software was successfully tested with mass spectra exhibiting resolutions ranging from 10,000 to 240,000. Results: The molecular characterization of a synthetic poly(ethylene glycol)-based excipient was achieved. MSPolyCalc allowed the discrimination of six polymer compositions of variable relative abundance. Secondary ionization adducts with very low intensity consisting of matrix-analyte clusters were also successfully identified. Conclusions: MSPolyCalc offers assisted data interpretation to target the needs of polymer chemists. It facilitates structure characterization, ionization adduct identification, and end-group determination together with visual result reporting.

Link

doi:10.1002/rcm.8652

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