Patent ID: 6770486
Filing Date: 2004-08-03
Classification: H01J,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of selecting those members of a group of compounds that can form a noncovalent complex with a target molecule comprising:selecting a mass spectrometer; selecting a standard compound that forms a non-covalent binding complex with said target molecule, said non-covalent binding complex having a baseline affinity; mixing an amount of said standard compound with an excess amount of said target molecule such that unbound target molecule is present in said mixture; introducing said mixture of said standard compound and said target molecule into said mass spectrometer; adjusting the mass spectrometer desolvation conditions such that the signal strength of said standard compound bound to said target molecule is from 1% to about 30% of signal strength of unbound target molecule; introducing a sub-set of said group of compounds into a test mixture of said target molecule and said standard compound; introducing said test mixture into said mass spectrometer; identifying the members of said sub-set that form complexes with said target by discerning signals arising from said members complexed with said target and identifying the members by their respective molecular masses.