Principles of Ion Chromatographic Separation and Detection

The on-line coupling between TLC and mass spectrometry provides a powerful combination for the detection and identification of substances separated by a planar chromatographic method. The on-line coupling between these two methods has to overcome the problem of vaporizing and introducing the sample into the mass spectrometer. Different methods are reported in the literature, but the analytical principle is the same the sample is ionized from the layer surface by means of a laser beam, under vacuum, and in the presence of an energy-buffering matrix. Once the ions are transferred into the mass spectrometer, more sophisticated methods can be applied for data analysis and interpretation, e.g., MS-MS. 

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