Mass Spectrometry

Digital waveform technology is emerging as a powerful tool in mass spectrometry (MS). Digital quadrupoles rely on precise control of frequency rather than voltage, which allows these devices to access a greatly extended mass range

Bryan Vining from SGS Environmental Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, reveals some of the cutting-edge research his team has performed involving dioxin analysis, and proposes some future possibilities for the direction of this field.

Marijuana, the common or slang term for cannabis in its herbal form, is one of the most widely used illicit drugs in the world.

The use of a mass spectrometer in quantitative analysis exploits its exquisite selectivity and sensitivity as a detector, allowing a signal to be ascribed to a particular chemical entity with high certainty, even when present in a sample at a low concentration. There are, however, some special considerations that are necessary when a mass spectrometer is used as a quantitative tool.

This article describes the development of a new data-independent acquisition (DIA) workflow for protein quantification that uses a mass spectrometer that combines three types of mass analyzers to achieve lower limits of detection (LOD), higher sensitivity, more accurate quantitative results, wider dynamic range, and better reproducibility than existing high-resolution accurate-mass (HRAM) tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) DIA workflows.

Worldwide trends in illicit drug use and production have shifted toward an increase in synthetic analogues and the emergence of new variations in their manufacture.

A multiresidue method has been developed and validated for the analysis of methylxanthines (caffeine and its metabolites) and cotinine in human plasma.

In most countries, herbal medicinal products (HMPs) are introduced into the market without proper scientific evaluation or enforced safety and toxicological studies.

Direct sample analysis coupled to high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) may be effective at analyzing synthetic cathinones, especially for qualitative analysis, because it does not require potentially tedious sample preparation.

Military jet fuel (JP-8) is very similar to commercial jet fuel (Jet A) except for the presence of three additives, fuel system icing inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor–lubricity improver (CI-LI), and antistatic additive, which are added to improve characteristics of JP-8.

Simple, sensitive, rapid, selective, and precise reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and tandem MS (ESI-MS-MS) methods were developed and validated for the determination of 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)-butanoic acid (HMTBA) in bovine serum and sea water matrix. HMTBA is the ?-hydroxy analog of the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine and is extensively used as a methionine supplement in poultry and bovine feed.

Canola largely contains unsaturated fatty acids, thus rendering it clear in most cases after extraction and refining.

In this article, we examine how tandem and tandem hybrid mass spectrometry has opened up new frontiers already. We go further and examine how lesser-known experiments are breaking new ground, with alternative fragmentation techniques, as well as the addition of extra levels of orthogonality by parallel separations techniques.

Native mass spectrometry, the method by which noncovalent protein complexes are retained in the gas phase for intact mass analysis, is gaining interest as a method for intact protein characterization. The development of a modified orbital ion trap platform for high-resolution analyses has expanded the role of native mass spectrometry to address the challenges of intact protein characterization.

The identification of nontargeted species in environmental and commercial samples by mass spectrometry can be very difficult. In this article, authors from Eastman Chemical Company describe their systematic approach for the identification of nontargeted species using nominal and accurate mass data, searching both mass spectral and "spectra-less" databases.

Ionization of small, large, volatile, and nonvolatile compounds with charge states nearly identical to electrospray ionization are produced from a solid matrix or solution with high sensitivity utilizing the vacuum inherent with any mass spectrometer. With the proper matrix, analytes can be analyzed from ambient conditions or by direct introduction into vacuum.

The production and sale of counterfeit drugs has risen sharply in recent years. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that counterfeit medicines account for approximately 1% of sales in developed countries and well over 10% in developing countries.

Despite the advantages of soft ionization ion-source technologies for improving confidence in the identification of a range of challenging analytes, soft ionization remains a niche technique for gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).

Here, a method to characterize edible oils and edible oil mixtures through fingerprinting and the isolation of individual analyte differences is reported. Aroma and flavor analytes in extra virgin olive, olive, peanut, grapeseed, and vegetable oils were sampled with headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME).

Correlating biological activity with chemical composition is the Holy Grail of natural product chemists. Is mass spectrometry the right tool for this challenge?

Gas chromatography with electron ionization and mass spectrometry (GC–EI-MS) detection is a workhorse among analytical techniques in metabolomics. A major challenge in the utilization of GC–EI-MS in metabolomics is the identification of unknowns.

Recent advances in sampling techniques in the pharmaceutical industry sparked significant interest in applying improvements to extraction methods for greater analyte detection and quantitation.

A review of possible uses of ion chromatography (IC) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) detection for environmental research

The method development process required for the accurate quantification of both clopidogrel and its acid metabolite with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 1 pg/mL in human plasma is discussed.

This article describes how a food testing laboratory can transition routine high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods to microflow LC for improved sensitivity, throughput, and robustness of analysis.

A study of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in river water samples is presented from northeastern United States using ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with TOF-MS for both targeted and nontargeted analytes

This article examines the various effects of phospholipids in liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS-MS) analysis and demonstrates a new phospholipid-removal approach.

This instalment provides a brief overview of some multidimensional approaches targeted at intact protein analysis for life science applications, particularly for biopharmaceutical analysis.

This article reports on the isolation, purification, and characterization of phorbol esters in Jatropha curcas seeds.

Here, the process to build an accurate mass database is thoroughly described and applications are commented on.