Michael Barber (chemist)

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]

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

FRS

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
Spouse(s)Joan Barber (m. 1958; died 1991)
Children3
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, mass spectrometry
Doctoral advisorJohn Wilfrid Linnett

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
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Award for analytical chemistry and instrumentation (1979)[3]
  • Fellow of the Royal Society (1985)[3]
  • American Society for Mass Spectrometry – The Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award (1991)[3]

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. 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. 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. 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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