High-performance thin-layer chromatography HPTLC-MALDI

In the following section, three approaches are focused on and exemplarily described, for which instrumentation and support are commercially available and for which own research experience are given. One HPTLC-MS application is based on an interface using an elution head (high-performance thin-layer chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, HPTLC-ESI-MS) the other two applications are using either laser light (HPTLC-MALDI-MS) or a gas beam for desorption (HPTLC-DART-MS). They all are soft ionization techniques however, when combined with analyzers suited for structure elucidation, like ion trap or tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), structural information is also available. 

The high-performance thin-layer chromatography-matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPTLC-MALDI-TOF-MS) procedure was found to be robust because disintegrating pieces of the layer material, which might damage the MS, were not observed even under routine laboratory conditions. 

---