Patent ID: 8237108

Claim:
A method of deconvoluting mass spectral data from a complex sample, the data comprising peaks, each peak having a retention time, m/z value and abundance; said method comprising: identifying peaks that share a same retention time; and from the peaks sharing the same retention time, identifying a series of peaks of which the m/z values are related, said m/z values being related to one another as follows: m/z =( M±im a )/| i| (1), where M is a positive number and represents a proposed neutral mass; m a is the molecular weight of a charged moiety; i is an integer; the ± sign is + when the charged moiety carries a positive charge and − when the charged moiety carries a negative charge; wherein said series of peaks is determined as corresponding to the same compound, and the charged moiety is a proton, electron, Na + , K + , NH 4 + , Cl − or Ca ++ .