Three-Dimensional Vizualization of Mouse Brain by Lipid Analysis Using Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Two-dimensional (2D) imaging mass spectrometry (MS)[1] has emerged as a powerful technique in the biological sciences. It allows direct investigation of the distribution of a variety of lipids, drugs, biological defensive agents, pigments and proteins in plant and animal tissues with high specificity and without the need of fluorescent or radioactive labelling normally used in histochemical protocols.[2, 3] In imaging MS, the chemical identity of molecules present on a surface is investigated as a function of their 2D spatial distribution (x and y coordinates).
Finding environmentally gentle methods to graft Lewis acid on the surface of mesoporous materials is a topic of current interest. Herein we describe the optimization of a preparation procedure of a mesoporous silica-supported ErIII catalyst using the microwave-assisted post-calcination functionalization of Mobil Composition of Matter-41 silica as the key step. The required time for functionalization was reduced from several hours to 10 min using sealed-vessel microwave technology. Control experiments using conventional heating at the same temperature demonstrated that the rate increase is owing to a simple thermal/kinetic effect as a result of the higher reaction temperature. The resulting ErIII catalyst was tested for the first time as a catalyst in the continuous flow deprotection of benzaldehyde dimethylacetal and a complete leaching study was performed.