Electron-Induced Dissociation of Anions

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has become an integral part of chemical analysis within many industries due to its ability to identify known or unknown compounds, often at low abundance, and on a rapid time-scale that is compatible with chromatography.  A recent addition to this tandem MS tool-box is a technique called Electron-Induced Dissociation (EID)1.  An extension of Electron-Capture Dissociation (ECD) which uses low energy electrons to fragment multiply charged cations [2] and Electron Detachment Dissociation (EDD) for multiply charged anions [3], EID is the dissociation of singly charged ions following irradiation with electrons of slightly greater energy than used for ECD.  This stems from the very early work by Cody et al. who brought forth the benefit of Electron Impact Excitation of Ions from Organics (EIEIO) [4].