Oxidation of diterpenoid Pinaceae resins in old master paintings

Many resins which have been commonly used in paintings originate from the conifer subfamily Pinaceae, such as colophony or rosin, common or Bordeaux turpentine (Pinus), Venice turpentine (Larix) and Strasbourg turpentine (Abies). These diterpenoid resins have been applied in virtually all parts of Old Master's paintings. Some systems simply place the MALDI probe millimeters from the cell allowing the magnetic field to focus the ions from the plume into the cell with the disadvantage of higher base pressure at the cell. Others, like ours, ionize outside the field and transfer the ion to the cell using a variety of ion optics techniques with the disadvantage of time of flight broadening of the ion bundle that has been extracted from the plume.