Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews Mass Spectrometry Desk Reference by O. David Sparkman Global View Publishing: Pittsburgh, PA, 2000. 106 pp. ISBN 0-9660813-2-3. $29.95. reviewed by Bill Boggess
With his book Mass Spectrometry Desk Reference, the noted ACS short course instructor O. David Sparkman offers a brief and informative lexicon of mass spectrometric terminology. Offering great hope for spurned authors everywhere, Sparkman turned a rejected journal manuscript into the first edition of this text. Having benefited from peer review, his book includes accurate technical content, pertinent information, and reasonable coverage. Filled with many useful examples of correct and incorrect usage of important terms, Sparkman’s compilation may well become the de facto nomenclature standard for mass spectrometry. The Correct and Incorrect Terms section comprises the bulk of Mass Spectrometry Desk Reference. Sparkman presents each term with a designation like (correct) or (incorrect) and a definition. This section clarifies the use of important terms, including mass spectrum (singular) versus mass spectra (plural), mass spectrometry (correct) versus mass spectroscopy (incorrect), protonated molecular ion (incorrect) versus protonated molecule (correct), and cation (incorrect) versus positive ion (correct). The majority of entries offer clear and concise descriptions. Simple illustrations enhance the presentation of several topics, including modes of fragmentation (homolytic cleavage, heterolytic cleavage, and the McLafferty rearrangement), resolving power versus resolution, and the distinctions between nominal mass, monoisotopic mass, most abundant mass, and average mass. A clear understanding of all terms pertaining to mass remains paramount to users of mass spectrometry. Sparkman devotes a subsection of Correct and Incorrect Terms to the topic of mass. A slight reorganization of this subsection might eliminate some confusion. For example, the important distinction between molecular weight and molecular mass gets lost under the discussion of amu, a.m.u., or A.M.U. (p 35). A separate entry for molecular mass, which appears several pages later (p 38), offers a definition different from that previously provided. Regretfully, a distinct entry for molecular weight is not included. Sparkman places an asterisk on terms when disagreements arise with IUPAC or ASMS conventions, and he adequately explains these contradictions. For example, he derides the use of gender-specific designations such as parent ion, daughter ion, and granddaughter ion, preferring instead the genderneutral terms precursor ion, product ion, and x-generation
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product ion. Other entries are more contentious. For example, Sparkman’s designation of spray ionization (incorrect) as “too encompassing” while desorption/ionization (correct) remains acceptable seems arbitrary. His argument for the use of single-, double-, triple-, or multiple-charge ion rather than singly, doubly, triply, or multiply charged ion is simply ponderous. The assertion that “FAB and LSIMS have largely been replaced by ES and MALDI” represents a gross generalization without qualification. This statement may apply to the number of current research articles involving these techniques; but it does not apply to the number of analyses performed by the University of Notre Dame Mass Spectrometry Facility, where FAB experiments outnumber ES and MALDI experiments by nearly 3 to 1! With feedback from the scientific community, future editions of this text will likely contain additional terms. A separate entry for “molecular weight” seems warranted, as does one for “neutral”. The mass spectrometrist might become confused when the biochemist discusses a MALDI spectrum of a neutral sugar. To the mass spectrometrist, neutral means uncharged, whereas to the biochemist, neutral means underivatized. This represents the type of confusion that Mass Spectrometry Desk Reference should help to avoid. The Use of Abbreviations section offers guidelines for the proper use of frequently used terms such as MS, GC/MS (the technique), GC-MS (the instrument), and others. Sparkman rightfully argues that “All abbreviations should be defined before their use.” Unfortunately, he failed to follow this advice with the abbreviated “Spec”, which graces the front cover title “Mass Spec Desk Reference”. Neither “spec” nor “mass spec” is explicitly defined in the text. It is to be hoped that this egregious error will be corrected in the next edition. The Bibliography provides much more than just the expected laundry list of references. It contains multiple sections, including Introductory Books, Reference Books, and Books of Historical Significance, which simplify the search for references on specific topics. Most sections include a brief overview with Sparkman’s recommendations of particularly useful selections, and each reference contains the title of the book or article. Internet resources receive special mention on the inside back cover, which provides URL listings of useful mass spectrometry related Web sites. O. David Sparkman’s Mass Spectrometry Desk Reference offers useful information for both the experienced mass spectrometrist and the newcomer to the field. Well organized and easy to read, this text represents a fine resource for those learning the language of mass spectrometry. Bill Boggess is in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556;
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 78 No. 2 February 2001 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
