Chemical ionization method development

In many cases, El imparts so much excess energy into a molecule that only fragment ions and no molecular ions are produced. Therefore, "softer ionization techniques were developed to enhance molecular weight information. The first of these ionization methods was chemical ionization (Cl). Developed by re-... 

A connnon feature of all mass spectrometers is the need to generate ions. Over the years a variety of ion sources have been developed. The physical chemistry and chemical physics communities have generally worked on gaseous and/or relatively volatile samples and thus have relied extensively on the two traditional ionization methods, electron ionization (El) and photoionization (PI). Other ionization sources, developed principally for analytical work, have recently started to be used in physical chemistry research. These include fast-atom bombardment (FAB), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ES). 

There are methods for vaporizing solids of low volatility by placing them on a thin wire, which is then raised to a high temperature within a fraction of a second (direct chemical ionization, DCI). This rapid heating allows some vaporization without decomposition, but with the development of later ionization methods, it is now rarely used. 

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method that can quantitatively analyze urinar y normal and modified nucleosides in less than 30 min with a good resolution and sufficient sensitivity has been developed. Nineteen kinds of normal and modified nucleosides were determined in urine samples from 10 healthy persons and 18 breast cancer patients. Compounds were separ ated on a reverse phase Kromasil C18 column (2.1 mm I.D.) by isocratic elution mode using 20 mg/1 ammonium acetate - acetonitrile (97 3 % v/v) at 200 p.l/min. A higher sensitivity was obtained in positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode APCI(-i-). 

An on-line chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-APCI/MS/MS) methods was developed for rapid screen of pharmacokinetics of different drugs, including 5 (98RCM1216). The electron impact mass spectrum of 5 and ethyl 9,10-difluoro-3-methyl-7-oxo-2,3-dihydro-7Ff-pyrido[l,2,3- fe]-l,4-benzoxazine-6-carboxylate was reported (97MI28). Electron impact/Fourier transform... 

The most recent progress in MS analysis of chlorophylls has been obtained with the development of atmospheric ionization methods such as atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCl) and electrospray ionization (ESI). These techniques have demonstrated much more sensitivity than thermospray ionization, detecting chloro-... 

Crescenzi et al. developed a multi-residue method for pesticides including propanil in drinking water, river water and groundwater based on SPE and LC/MS detection. The recoveries of the pesticides by this method were >80%. Santos etal. developed an on-line SPE method followed by LC/PAD and LC/MS detection in a simultaneous method for anilides and two degradation products (4-chloro-2-methylphenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol) of acidic herbicides in estuarine water samples. To determine the major degradation product of propanil, 3,4-dichloroaniline, the positive ion mode is needed for atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI/MS) detection. The LOD of 3,4-dichloroaniline by APCI/MS was 0.1-0.02 ng mL for 50-mL water samples. 

For confirmatory assay, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is becoming more frequently used in the analysis of OTC owing to its high sensitivity and ability. Electrospray ionization (ESI) [55-57] and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) [41] methods combined with tandem mass spectrometry are favored because of their higher sensitivity and better reproducibility. Hamscher et al. [58] developed a method for the determination of persistent TC residues in soil fertilized with manure by HPLC tandem mass spectrometry, MS-MS, and confirmation by MS-MS-MS. Zhu et al. [59] developed an LC-tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of common tetracyclines in water. The detection limit for oxytetracycline was 0.21 pg/L. Lykkeberg et al. [60] used LC-MS/MS for determination of oxytetracycline and its impurities EOTC, TC, ETC, ADOTC, oc-AOTC, and /i-AOTC. 

Currently no comprehensive libraries have been developed for methods, such as ESI (see Section 2.1.15) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI see Section 2.1.8), used to ionize compounds after LC separation. Generally these types of library are user generated for a specific purpose. 

With the development of sophisticated ionization techniques including electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), HPLC-MS techniques have been successfully applied to the online analysis of ginsenosides in extracts and biological fluids (Fuzzati, 2004). In terms of sensitivity and specificity, an MS detector is better than UV or ELSD. Among the various MS methods, the HPLC-MS-MS (or just LC-MS-MS) technique is to date the most sensitive method for detection and quantification of ginsenosides. 

Munson, M.S.B. Development of Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2000, 200,243-251. Richter, W.J. Schwarz, H. Chemical Ionization - a Highly Important Productive Mass Spectrometric Analysis Method. Amgew. Chem. 1978,90,449-469. 

Musshoff et al. [35] developed a method for the enantiomeric separation of the synthetic opioid agonist tramadol and its desmethyl metabolite using a Chiralpak AD column containing amylose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector and a n-hexane/ethanol, 97 3 v/v (5mM TEA) mobile phase nnder isocratic conditions (1 mL/min). After atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), detection was carried out in positive-ion MS-MS SRM mode. The method allowed the confirmation of diagnosis of overdose or intoxication as well as monitoring of patients compliance. 

In parallel with these developments, other techniques have been introduced that were especially applicable to the combination of liquid chromatography with MS. The most interesting, from the point of view of structural studies of flavonoid glycosides, are thermospray (TSP) and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) methods, which include electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). TSP was the first... 

A new gas chromatography (GC) method was developed to characterize artemether 28a and its metabolites in body fluids. The extracts were derivatized and then separated on an optimized capillary GC system and identified by chemical ionization MS using ammonia as the reagent gas <1998JCH(B)101>. A sensitive, selective, and reproducible GC-MS-SIM method has also been developed for the determination of artemether 28a and dihydroartemisinin 29a in plasma, using artemisinin 9a as an internal standard <1999JCH(B)251>. 

Mass spectrometiy. Several instruments based on chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) have been developed and applied to ambient air (Huey et al., 1998 Mauldin et al., 1998). Figure 11.32 shows two such instruments that have undergone an informal intercomparison study between themselves and a filter pack (nylon) method (Fehsenfeld et al., 1998). 

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