Table 2

Common element ratios obtained from 45.000 formulas comprising the Wiley mass spectral database for the mass range 30 Da – 1500 Da

Element ratios
Common range (covering 99.7%)
Extended range (covering 99.99%)
Extreme range (beyond 99.99%)

H/C
0.2–3.1
0.1–6
< 0.1 and 6–9
F/C
0–1.5
0–6
> 1.5
Cl/C
0–0.8
0–2
> 0.8
Br/C
0–0.8
0–2
> 0.8
N/C
0–1.3
0–4
> 1.3
O/C
0–1.2
0–3
> 1.2
P/C
0–0.3
0–2
> 0.3
S/C
0–0.8
0–3
> 0.8
Si/C
0–0.5
0–1
> 0.5

Kind and Fiehn BMC Bioinformatics 2007 8:105   doi:10.1186/1471-2105-8-105