Four esters of succinic and maleic acid were synthesized, separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). A comparison of matrix materials showed that 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,6-DHB) yielded a greater ionization efficiency than 2,5-DHB prior to TLC separation. The location of each ester sample on the TLC plate was estimated by comparing the developed plate with a duplicate plate that had been visualized by immersion in a KMnO4 solution. Generally, mass spectra obtained from the KMnO4-visualized plate were relatively poor. Reproducible mass spectra with high peak abundance were difficult to obtain using the 2,6-DHB matrix from crude synthetic esters extracted from the TLC plates. Significant improvements in both reproducibility and sensitivity were realized by using pencil lead as the MALDI matrix. The current methodology will be beneficial to organic chemists since it can provide a guideline for simple and rapid characterization of small organic compounds.