Cleavable detergent

The detergent is rendered inactive by cleavage, usually under acidic conditions, in order to make the sample compatible with a following procedure or in order to selectively remove the cleavage products.

This acetalic detergent is split under acidic conditions into hexanol and the zwitterionic 3-acetyl-1-(3-sulfopropyl)pyridinium.

This cleavable detergent is sensitive to heat and acid and is degraded during a typical trypsin digestion into the uncharged lipophilic compound 1-(furan-2-yl)undecan-1-ol and the zwitterionic 3-aminopropane-1-sulfonic acid (homotaurine), which can be removed by C18 solid phase extraction during sample work-up.

RapiGest SF, the brand-name for sodium 3-[(2-methyl-2-undecyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methoxy]-1-propanesulfonate, is an acid-cleavable anionic detergent marketed by Waters Corporation and AOBIOUS INC. MALDI matrix compounds such as α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid have been linked through a linker consisting of an unsymmetric formaldehyde acetals to dodecanol.

[3] This type of cleavable detergent is inherently compatible with MALDI and does not have to be removed prior to analysis.