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Michael Barber (chemist)

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For other people named Michael Barber, see Michael Barber (disambiguation).

FRS
Michael Barber
Michael Barber
Born(1934-11-03)3 November 1934
Newton, Greater Manchester, England
Died8 May 1991(1991-05-08) (aged 56)
NationalityBritish
Other namesMicky
Alma materManchester Grammar School, Queen's College, Oxford
Known forFast atom bombardment
SpouseJoan Barber (m. 1958; died 1991)
Children3
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, mass spectrometry
Doctoral advisorJohn Wilfrid Linnett

Michael Barber, FRS (3 November 1934 – 8 May 1991) was a British chemist and mass spectrometrist, best known for his invention of fast atom bombardment ionisation.[1][2]

Biography

Front Quad, Queen's College, Oxford

On 3 November 1934, Barber was born at his family's home, 166 Lodge Lane in Newton, Hyde. His family were working-class and underprivileged. Barber was one of two boys; his brother Peter, born in 1927, was seven years his elder. His father, Joseph Barber, was a carpenter.[3]

He was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford, obtaining his B.A. in 1958 and his B.Sc. in 1959. He married Joan Gaskell in 1958. They had three children.[3]

In 1961 he returned to Manchester to work at the Scientific Instruments division of Associated Electrical Industries. In 1973 he took up a lectureship position at UMIST and was promoted to Professor in 1985. He remained at Manchester until his death.[4]

Fast atom bombardment

Schematic of a fast atom bombardment ion source for a mass spectrometer.

Fast atom bombardment (FAB) is a method of ionization used in mass spectrometry that uses a beam of high energy atoms strikes a surface to create ions.[5][6][7] An energetic beam of atoms or ions will destroy an organic molecule under conditions typically used to create secondary ions. Barber realised that mixing the compound of interest with a vacuum compatible low-volatility liquid such as glycerol effectively protected the organic molecule and allowed it to be ionized and detected.[2][8] The protecting liquid "matrix" allowed compounds as large as 10,000 Da molecular mass to be detected. The concept of a protecting matrix was later used in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization.[9] The FAB technique was employed by Barber, Howard Morris (biochemist) and co-workers for early peptide sequencing experiments.[5]

Honours and distinctions

The Michael Barber Centre for Collaborative Mass Spectrometry, based at the University of Manchester, is named in honour of him.

References

  1. ^ Ronald Reid (12 November 1999). Peptide and Protein Drug Analysis. CRC Press. pp. 529–. ISBN 978-1-4200-0133-4.
  2. ^ a b Green, Brian N. (1992). "In Memory: Professor Michael Barber FRS". Organic Mass Spectrometry. 27 (1): 67. doi:10.1002/oms.1210270119. ISSN 0030-493X.
  3. ^ a b c d e Beynon, John Herbert (1 November 1996). "Michael Barber, 3 November 1934 - 8 May 1991". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 42: 2–9. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1996.0001. S2CID 71325506. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Professor Michael Barber FRS. Born 3 November 1934; died 8 May 1991". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 5 (7): 340–342. 1991. Bibcode:1991RCMS....5..340.. doi:10.1002/rcm.1290050709. ISSN 0951-4198. PMID 1841652.
  5. ^ a b Morris HR, Panico M, Barber M, Bordoli RS, Sedgwick RD, Tyler A (1981). "Fast atom bombardment: a new mass spectrometric method for peptide sequence analysis". Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 101 (2): 623–31. doi:10.1016/0006-291X(81)91304-8. PMID 7306100.
  6. ^ Barber, Michael; Bordoli, Robert S.; Elliott, Gerard J.; Sedgwick, R. Donald; Tyler, Andrew N. (1982). "Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry". Analytical Chemistry. 54 (4): 645A–657A. doi:10.1021/ac00241a817. ISSN 0003-2700.
  7. ^ Barber M, Bordoli RS, Sedgewick RD, Tyler AN (1981). "Fast atom bombardment of solids (F.A.B.): a new ion source for mass spectrometry". Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (7): 325–7. doi:10.1039/C39810000325.
  8. ^ Gaskel, Simon J.; Gale, P. Jane (4 December 2015). Richard M. Caprioli (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mass Spectrometry: Volume 9: Historical Perspectives, Part A: The Development of Mass Spectrometry. Michael L. Gross. Elsevier. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-08-091325-4.
  9. ^ Hillenkamp, Franz; Karas, Michael; Beavis, Ronald C.; Chait, Brian T. (1991). "Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of biopolymers". Analytical Chemistry. 63 (24): 1193A–1203A. doi:10.1021/ac00024a716. ISSN 0003-2700. PMID 1789447.
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