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Deuterated matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization matrix uncovers masked mass spectrometry imaging signals of small molecules.

D(4)-α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (D(4)-CHCA) has been synthesized for use as a matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and MALDI-MS imaging (MSI) of small molecule drugs and endogenous compounds. MALDI-MS analysis of small molecules has historically been hindered by interference from matrix ion clusters and fragment peaks that mask signals of low molecular weight compounds of interest. By using D(4)-CHCA, the cluster and fragment peaks of CHCA, the most common matrix for analysis of small molecules, are shifted by + 4, + 8 and + 12 Da, which expose signals across areas of the previously concealed low mass range. Here, obscured MALDI-MS signals of a synthetic small molecule pharmaceutical, a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid, and endogenous compounds including the neurotransmitter acetylcholine have been unmasked and imaged directly from biological tissue sections.