Gas-phase ion-neutral reactions have been studied by mass spectrometry for >100 years, yet the interaction of biological ions with atoms have only recently been investigated. This perspective focuses on the utilization of biological ion-atom reactions to elucidate structural information not garnered from other established ion activation techniques. A discussion of the historical studies of astrochemistry and atmospheric processes, which provided the foundation for this approach, is presented, followed by the practical aspects of atom generation and transport into the reaction region of a mass spectrometer. Recent works investing the reactions of biological ions (e.g. peptides, lipids, metabolites) have demonstrated the promise of this approach, which shares similarities to other radical-driven fragmentation processes. The advantages, pitfalls, and future improvements of this approach are discussed, and a perspective for future research is presented.

通过质谱法研究气相离子中性反应已有 100 多年的历史，但生物离子与原子的相互作用直到最近才被研究。这一观点侧重于利用生物离子-原子反应来阐明其他已建立的离子活化技术未获得的结构信息。介绍了为这种方法提供基础的天体化学和大气过程的历史研究的讨论，然后是原子生成和传输到质谱仪反应区域的实际方面。最近对生物离子（例如肽、脂质、代谢物）反应进行投资的工作证明了这种方法的前景，它与其他自由基驱动的碎裂过程有相似之处。优点，缺点，