Chemical derivatization with a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon for highly sensitive detection of N-linked glycans using MALDI-TOF MS

Here we developed a facile method using the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ethidium bromide (EB) for glycan derivatization, to enhance the ionization efficiency and detection sensitivity of glycans in mass spectrometry (MS). The cationic nature of EB also notably improved identification of neutral and acidic glycans of real samples, as well as their structural analysis.