2-[(2E)-3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methylprop-2-enylidene]malononitrile (DCTB, dicyano..tert-butyl ...) has proven to be an excellent nonprotic matrix for very labile compounds, especially for substituted fullerenes. This is mainly due to its extremely low onset of ion production. This matrix works mainly as an electron transfer agent, i.e. the ions produced are radical anions or cations, respectively. It works equally well to transfer evaporation energy to charged oligomers and with proton labile compounds (not shown here).

Keywords: MALDI, mass spectrometry, matrix; fullerenes, electron transfer, laser desorption