The compatibility of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a quaternary ammonium compound with detergent properties, with gas phase protein sequencing has been examined. Two proteins, one hydrophilic (sperm whale apomyoglobin) and one hydrophobic (the proteolipid subunit 9 of the human mitochondrial H+-ATPase), were successfully sequenced in the presence of this detergent. The presence of CTAB did not affect the repetitive yield during sequencing when compared with polybrene although at high detergent concentrations the initial yield was apparently lower. The sequence of the first forty amino acid residues of the human H+-ATPase proteolipid subunit 9 shows complete homology to the bovine sequence.