A PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF A BLACK-HOLE FOR COLLISIONALLY INDUCED DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS IN ION-TRAP MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Through extensive studies of collisionally induced decompositions of different precursors by ion-trap mass spectrometry, the presence of a shadow region was demonstrated. If fragment ions fall into the stability diagram at a q(z) value of approximately 0.78, their absolute intensities drop almost to zero. In order to test this phenomenon, different precursors and different collisionally produced fragment ions have been examined and in every case the fragment at q(z) = 0.78 disappeared, suggesting that such q(z) values can be considered as black holes in the microcosmos of the ion-trap mass spectrometer.