Perfluorokerosene mass calibration

Mass Calibration The process by which the mass analyzer is calibrated such that a measured and displayed m/z is accurate. Well-characterized calibration compounds are utilized, and measured m/z values for these compounds are compared to theoretical m/z values. Calibrants commonly used include various polymeric species (such as polypropylene glyol, or PPGs poly tyrosine (poly-t)) or fluorinated species (perfluorokerosene or PFK) but can be any compound or mixture (Nal/KI) of compounds properly characterized for MS. 

Because an increase in resolution causes a decrease in sensitivity, it is best to operate at the lowest resolution commensurate with good results. Some instrument data systems will allow calibration with an external reference material such as perfluorokerosene and then use of a secondary reference material for the internal mass reference. Tetraiodothiophene, vaporized using the solids probe inlet, is recommended as the secondary reference. The accurate masses are 79.9721, 127.9045, 162.9045, 206.8765, 253.8090, 293.7950, 333.7810, 460.6855, and 587.5900. For a higher mass standard, use hexaiodobenzene. Because the mass defect for these internal reference ions are so large, a resolution of 2000 is ample to separate these ions from almost any sample ions encountered in GC/MS. 

Resolution does not affect the accuracy of the individual accurate mass measurements when no separation problem exists. When performing accurate mass measurements on a given component in a mixture, it may be necessary to raise the resolution of the mass spectrometer wherever possible. Atomic composition mass spectrometry (AC-MS) is a powerful technique for chemical structure identification or confirmation, which requires double-focusing magnetic, Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron resonance (FTICR) or else ToF-MS spectrometers, and use of a suitable reference material. The most common reference materials for accurate mass measurements are perfluorokerosene (PFK), perfluorotetrabutylamine (PFTBA) and decafluorotriph-enylphosphine (DFTPP). One of the difficulties of high-mass MS is the lack of suitable calibration standards. Reference inlets to the ion source facilitate exact mass measurement. When appropriately calibrated, ToF mass... 

To ensure accurate mass measurement, spectrometers are calibrated with compounds such as perfluorokerosene (CF3(CF2)nCF3) or perfluorotributylamine ((CF3CF2CF2CF2)3N). In high-resolution spectra, the exact masses of fluorocarbon fragments are slightly lower than those of ions containing C, H, O, N, and S. For high-resolution work, standards should be run with the unknown. 

Accurate mass scales (or calibration curves) are generally established by measuring the mass spectrum of a reference compound simultaneously with the spectrum of the sample. The precise mass of every ion in the spectrum of the reference compound is known, so a precise mass correlation is thereby provided. Common reference materials are perfluorokerosene (PFK) and perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), the mass spectra of which are shown in Figures 3.1 and 3.2, respectively. Since all the ions formed from these compounds contain several fluorine atoms (18.9984) and no hydrogen atoms (1.0078), they have negative mass defects and are well separated from organic ions that normally have positive mass defects. Of course, other chemicals may be used to provide reference masses, as long as the exact masses in its spectrum are known. 

The most common use of batch inlets is to introduce a controlled flow of compounds for calibrating the mass scale. Frequently used calibration compounds include perfluorotributylamine (FC-43, heptacosa) and perfluorokerosene (PFK) both are effective with electron ionization (El) but give limited responses in chemical ionization (Cl). If used for calibration in Cl, or to provide lock masses (Section 3.1.1), the concentration of the reagent gas must be reduced. This reducation somewhat compromises the effectiveness of the Cl process. 

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