Catherine Silvestri                                                                                             

Office:  ES&T L2-110

Office Phone:  404-385-4427

E-mail: csilvestri@gatech.edu

Education

2007 Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S. Chemistry

Research Interests

Synthesis of Thermometer Molecules For Use During Measurement of Internal Energy Deposition By DART and Venturi-assisted Ionization Sources

Thermometer molecules are compounds which fragment at known critical energies and are inherently useful in mass spectrometry (MS) as they enable measurement of the internal energy of ions. Benzylpyridinium salts comprise a class of compounds which are commonly used as probe ions for MS because they typically fragment via a simple mechanism to form a benzyl cation and a neutral pyridine molecule (see reaction below). Fragmentation occurs when a specific, known amount of energy is transferred to the molecule during the ionization process. As one of the focuses of the Fernandez group is on the characterization and development of ambient ionization methods, obtaining measurements of internal energy deposition by these sources provides a fundamental investigation of their performance.

 

 

 

 

The use of a single type of substituted salt, i.e. para-substituted salts, allows for the analysis of mixtures of these salts thus minimizing the effect of variability in the ionization efficiency (due to temperature, flow rate, gas pressure, etc.) between successive mass spectrometric analyses. As the majority of these compounds are not commercially available, I synthesized a series of these compounds, using previously published protocols, for use by other members of the group.