“…Metalloporphyrins have been analyzed using a variety of mass spectrometric methods, including electron ionization (EI),1,2 chemical ionization (CI),3h8 fast atom bombardment,9h12 plasma desorption,13,14 thermospray,15 laser desorption,16h19 Ðeld desorption, 20 atmospheric pressure chemical ionization21 and electrospray ionization (ESI).22h24 Traditionally, EI and CI are useful for structural elucidation studies but complicate the analysis of mixtures as they produce mass spectra containing a large number of fragment ions. The remaining ionization methods generally produce a high abundance of molecular ions with little fragmentation, and are therefore useful for identiÐcation purposes.…”