Christiane Berkemeyer

The combination of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), atmospheric pressure ionization (API), mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is ideal for determining and characterizing analytes in complex biological matrices. This review looks at the importance of parameters such as hydrophobicity, ionization properties, molecular mass and, partially, the molecular structure resulting from applied LC–MS–MS systems in analytical laboratories. The use of these parameters to investigate biomolecules and their unambiguous identification is also described.