Mass spectrometry online detection

Mass spectrometry (MS) detection In the case of MS detection, there must be a distinction between online and offline CE-MS modes. 

R. M. Marce, H. Prosen, C. Crespo, M. Calull, R Boirull and U. A. Th Brinkman, Online ti ace enrichment of polar pesticides in environmental waters by reversed-phase liquid cliromatography-diode array detection-particle beam mass spectrometry , J. Chromatogr. 696 63-74 (1995). 

Aguilar C, Ferrer I, Borrull F, Marce RM, Barcelo D (1999) Monitoring of pesticides in river water based on samples previously stored in polymeric cartridges followed by online solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography-diode array detection and confirmation by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Anal Chim Acta 386 (3) 237-248... 

Whilst these methods are informative for the characterisation of synthetic mixtures, the information gained and the nature of these techniques precludes their use in routine quantitative analysis of environmental samples, which requires methods amenable to the direct introduction of aqueous samples and in particular selective and sensitive detection. Conventionally, online separation techniques coupled to mass spectrometric detection are used for this, namely gas (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC). As a technique for agrochemical and environmental analyses, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to atmospheric pressure ionisation-mass spectrometry (API-MS) is extremely attractive, with the ability to analyse relatively polar compounds and provide detection to very low levels. 

Mass spectrometry enables the type of direct analyses described, but it does have its limitations. Online operation forces detection at infusion concentrations, in salty buffer and under complex mixture conditions. General ion suppression results from the buffer and mixture components, and mixture complexity can tax the resolution of even the best mass spectrometers. Increasing compound concentration is not the answer, as this leads to problems of solubility and increased compound consumption. We have found that the online method can work successfully for up to 100 compounds per analysis, but the false negative rate becomes appreciable [21]. As an alternative for ligand discovery purposes, we have developed a FAC-LC/MS system in which FAC effluent is sampled and analyzed by LC/MS [19]. This system offers the ability to concentrate mixture components and introduces another dimension to the data in order to tolerate more complex mixtures (Fig. 6.9). Using this system, we have screened approximately 1000 modified trisaccharide acceptor analogs targeting immobilized N-... 

For the detection, gas chromatography (GC) [15,18-20, 28] and liquid chromatography (LC) [14—16, 21, 22, 24, 26-29] coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) or tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) have been the techniques most frequently used in the determination of pesticides in ground water. Examples of the application of both techniques in the area of study, Catalonia, are the work of Garrido et al. [17], who used GC-MS and GC with electron capture detection (ECD) for the analysis of 44 pesticides in groundwater samples from Catalonia and that of Kampioti et al. [25], who used online SPE-LC-MS/MS to analyse 20 pesticides in river water and... 

Gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) can be coupled to the TGA instrument for online identification of the evolved gases during heating pyrolysis-GC/MS is a popular technique for the evaluation of the mechanism and the kinetics of thermal decomposition of polymers and rubbers. Moreover, it allows a reliable detection and (semi)quantitative analysis of volatile additives present in an unknown polymer sample. 

Coupling of liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry provides unequivocal online spectrometric identification of tetracycline antibiotics in animal-derived foods. Typical applications of mass spectrometry in confirming tetracycline residues in edible animal products describe coupling of liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry via particle-beam (280), electrospray (292), or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (307), using negative-ion detection interfaces. 

The number of detectors that are sensitive and selective enough to be applied online with LC is limited because the solvents used are not compatible, as in the case of immunochemical detection after reversed- or normal-phase LC. The technology of coupling is still under development and not yet available in a large number of laboratories not specialized in techniques such as LC-MS. Therefore, LC separations are frequently followed by offline detection. Confirmatory analysis of suspected liquid chromatographic peaks can be made possible by coupling liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization LC-MS has been employed for the identification of six steroid hormones in bovine tissues (448). 

Reversed-phase HPLC is widely utilized to generate a peptide map from digested protein, and the MS online method provides rapid identification of the molecular mass of peptides. The HPLC-MS-FAB online system is a sensitive and precise method for low-MW peptides (<3000 Da) even picomol quantities can be detected. However, as the MW of the analytes increases, the ionization of peptides becomes more difficult and decreases the sensibility of the FAB-MS (112). Electrospray ionization (ESI-MS) was found to be an efficient method for the determination of molecular masses up to 200,000 Da of labile biomolecules, with a precision of better than 0.1%. Molecular weights of peptide standards and an extensive hydrolysate of whey protein were determined by the HPLC-MS-FAB online system and supported by MALDI-TOF (112). Furthermore, HPLC-MS-FAB results were compared with those of Fast Performance Liquid Chro-motography (FPLC) analysis. Mass spectrometry coupled with multidimensional automated chromatography for peptide mapping has also been developed (9f,l 12a). 

J Slobodnik, AJH Louter, JJ Vreuls, I Liska, UAT Brinkman. Monitoring of organic micropollutants in surface water by automated online trace-enrichment-liquid-and-gas-chromatographic systems with ultra-violet diode-array and mass-spectrometry detection. J Chromatogr A 768 239-258, 1997. 

HPLC with column switching and mass spectrometry was applied to the online determination and resolution of the enantiomers of donepezil HC1 in plasma [38]. This system employs two avidin columns and fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry (FAB-MS). A plasma sample was injected directly into an avidin trapping column (10 mm x 4.0 mm i.d.). The plasma protein was washed out from the trapping column immediately while donepezil HC1 was retained. After the column-switching procedure, donepezil HC1 was separated enantioselectivity in an avidin analytical column. The separated donepezil HC1 enantiomers were specifically detected by FAB-MS without interference from metabolites of donepezil HC1 and plasma constituents. The limit of quantification for each enantiomer of donepezil HC1 in plasma was 1.0 ng/ml and the intra-and inter-assay RSDs for the method were less than 5.2%. The assay was validated for enantioselective pharmacokinetic studies in the dog. 

E.W.J. Hooijschuur, Ch.E. Kientz, A.G. Hulst and U.A.Th. Brinkman, Determination of hydrolysis products of sulfur mustards by reversed-phase microcolumn liquid chromatography coupled online with sulfur flame photometric detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using large-volume injections and peak compression, Anal Chem., 72, 1199-1206 (2000). 

The second major environmental application of FFF has been the use of an element-specific detector, usually in series with a UV detector, to provide elemental composition data along with the PSD. Graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry has been used off-line on fractions collected from the FFF run. However, the multi-element detection, low detection limits and capability to function as an online detector have made inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) the ideal detector for FFE85-86 The sample introduction system of the ICP-MS is able to efficiently transport micron-sized particles into the high-temperature plasma,... 

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is now routinely used in analytical laboratories. Traditional IPRs are non-volatile salts that are not compatible with MS techniques because they play a major role in source pollution that is responsible for reduced signals. Moreover the final number of charged ions that reach the detector is impaired by ion-pair formation actually IPRs added to the mobile phase to improve analytes retention exert a profound effect on analyte ionization. Chromatographers who perform IPC-MS must optimize the eluent composition based on both chromatographic separation and compatibility with online detection requirements. 

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