Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry is a standard soft ionization technique in mass spectrometry. 2,5-Dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) and its butylamine salt (DHBB) [
D5355] are often used as a matrix for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, for oligosaccharide, lipid and polar synthetic polymer analysis in particular. Moreover, DHB can be used for small molecules which are not ionized by other matrixes. Incidentally, IUPAC defined standard terms relating to mass spectrometry in 2013 (free access).