Investigation of deprotonation reactions on globular and denatured proteins at atmospheric pressure by ESSI-MS

Deprotonation reactions of multiply charged protein ions have been studied by introducing volatile reference bases at atmospheric pressure between an electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) source and the inlet of a mass spectrometer. Apparent gas-phase basicities (GB(app)) of different charge states of protein ions were determined by a bracketing approach. The results obtained depend on the conformation of the protein ions in the gas phase, which is linked to the type of buffer used (denaturing or nondenaturing). In nondenaturing buffer, the GB(app) values are consistent with values predicted by the group of Kebarle using an electrostatic model (J. Mass Spectrom.2002, 38, 618) based on the crystal structures, but taking into account salt bridges between ionized basic and acidic sites on the protein surface. A new basicity order for the most basic sites was therefore obtained. An excellent agreement with the charge residue model (CRM) is obtained when comparing the observed and calculated maximum charge state. Decharging of the proteins in the electrosonic spray process could be also useful in the study on noncovalent complexes, by decreasing repulsive electrostatic interactions. A unified mechanism of the ESSI process is proposed.     

Assay of rotenone in river water by high-throughput tandem mass spectrometry and multiple-reaction monitoring methodology

The high-throughput analytical approach proposed for the assay of rotenone in lake and river waters presented here is based on atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) methodology whereby the analyte and internal standard solutions are directly analyzed, without any previous chromatographic separation. The very good accuracy is obtained by the critical choice of a reference compound that shows gas-phase chemistry similar to that of the analyte, by producing the same product ions selected for the MRM-based assay.     

Rapid detection of drugs in biofluids using atmospheric pressure chemi/chemical ionization mass spectrometry

We have demonstrated that, with simple pH adjustment, volatile drugs such as methamphetamine, amphetamine, 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), ketamine, and valproic acid could be analyzed rapidly from raw biofluid samples (e.g. urine and serum) without dilution, or extraction, using atmospheric pressure ionization. The ion source was a variant type of atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) that used a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to generate the metastable helium gas and reagent ions. The sample solution was loaded in a disposable glass pipette, and the volatile compounds were purged by nitrogen gas to be reacted with the metastable helium gas. The electrodes of the DBD were arranged in such a way that the generated glow discharge was confined within the discharge tube and was not exposed to the analytes. A needle held at 100–500 V was placed between the ion‐sampling orifice and the discharge tube to guide the analyte ions into the mass spectrometer. After pH adjustment of the biofluid sample, the amphiphilic drugs were in the form of a water‐insoluble oil, which could be concentrated on the liquid surface. By gentle heating of the sample to increase the evaporation rate, rapid and sensitive detection of these drugs in raw urine and serum samples could be achieved in less than 2 min for each sample. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enrichment of copper and nickel with solid phase extraction using multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with Schiff bases

The behaviour of some Schiff bases in the presence of metal ions is very selective in complex formation. In this study, new, selective and easily prepared adsorbent materials have been developed. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are quite suitable as supporting material for preparation of new solid phase adsorbents modified with Schiff bases due to their selective nature. Different Schiff bases were designed and synthesised as adsorbent agents for Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions, according to the literature, and MWCNTs were modified with these Schiff bases. The modification of CNTs was performed by adsorption from the alcoholic solution of Schiff base. The measurements of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions were carried out using ICP-MS. Different parameters such as pH, model and eluent solution flow rates, eluent type, amount of ligand, sample volume and effect of foreign ions, which have an effect upon recovery of analytes, were investigated. The obtained results indicated that enrichment can be done with six modified adsorbent materials for Cu(II) at pH 9 and two modified adsorbent materials for Ni(II) at pH 8. It was concluded that four adsorbent materials were selective only for the enrichment of Cu(II). Merely one modified adsorbent material was noneligible for the enrichment of Cu(II) and Ni(II). The solid phase adsorbents prepared by modification with two of the Schiff bases used in this study showed an enrichment factor of 80 for both metal ions, whereas the solid phase adsorbents prepared by modification with four of the Schiff bases showed an enrichment factor of 40 for Cu(II) ions. The confirmation of the developed method was tested with certified reference materials with satisfactory results.     

Exact Mass Measurements for a-Allenic Alcohol by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization／Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

The atmospheric pressure chemical ionization/time,of-flight mass speetrmtry (APEI/TOF-MS) was applied to determine the mass of five a.aIIenic alcohols via their vrotonated molecu.lar ions nslna Imsifive ion mode. Polyethylene Idycol (PEG) was used as the hlternal reference. All results were obtained under the resolution of about 5000 FWHM (full width at the half maximum). Solvent effects were studied and the satired results were obtained in acetonitrile. Comvared with the theoreflcal values, nun absolute errors were less thRn 1.0 mmu. The efTeets Of nozzle pote.Jldal, push pulse potential, pug pulse potentlai, puO bias potential and ic(lulsltion rate on exact mass determina/lon were also discussed. APCI/TOF.MS is proven to be a very semi/ire analytical technique and an alternative ionizafion mode in analytical technique lablle compounds with relatively weak polarity, such as a-allenic alcohol.     

Comparison of open and closed focussed microwave digestions in view of total mercury determination by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry

Food samples digestion, in view to quantify total mercury, is the first step to perform before measuring mercury by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS).We have compared two microwave digestion systems, one working at atmospheric pressure (open system) and the other one under pressure (closed system). Results obtained for fish muscle samples by the two methods are in good agreement. However, fat is not digested in the open system, whereas in the closed system no more fat remains in the final solution. During the quantification step, applying the CVAAS technique, we have noticed that the choice and the concentration of the reductant solution is very important to obtain good results. Elaborated methods have been validated using certified reference materials.     

Immobilized artificial membrane chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry

Liquid chromatographic separations on monolayers of cell membrane phospholipids covalently immobilized to silica particles at high molecular density is used for mimicking solute partitioning into biological membranes that generally correlates with membrane transport. This technique called immobilized artificial membrane chromatography usually employs ultraviolet (UV) detection where a single compound is analyzed in a chromatographic run limiting thereby its throughput for drug discovery applications. For coupling with atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry, the phosphate-buffered saline mobile phase was replaced with one that used ammonium acetate as a volatile buffer. While atmospheric pressure chemical ionization accommodated a purely aqueous effluent, interfacing with electrospray ionization required effluent splitting and the addition of an organic modifier (5%, v/v, acetonitrile). Neuropeptide FF antagonists as early-phase drug candidates were used for the comparative evaluation of the methods. Whereas electrospray ionization produced essentially no fragment ions, several compounds involved in our study yielded low-abundance molecular ions with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. The use of mass spectrometry yielded data that correlated well with those obtained by the method employing UV detection. Both atmospheric pressure ionization methods permitted the simultaneous determination of the k'(IAM), capacity factors and, therefore, an increased-throughput ranking of potential new leads emerged from the drug discovery process based on affinity to artificial membranes.     

Improved abundance sensitivity of molecular ions in positive-ion APCI MS analysis of petroleum in toluene

Positive-ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) analyses of petroleum sample were performed with higher sensitivity by switching the solvent composition from toluene and methanol or acetonitrile to a one-component system consisting only of toluene. In solvent blends, molecular ions were more abundant than were protonated ions with increasing percentages of toluene. In 100% toluene, the double-bond equivalence (DBE) distributions of molecular ions obtained by APCI MS for each compound class were very similar to those obtained in dopant assisted atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI) MS analyses. Therefore, it was concluded that charge-transfer reaction, which is important in toluene-doped APPI processes, also plays a major role in positive-ion APCI. In the DBE distributions of S₁, S₂, and SO heteroatom classes, a larger enhancement in the relative abundance of molecular ions at fairly specific DBE values was observed as the solvent was progressively switched to toluene. This enhanced abundance of molecular ions was likely dependent on molecular structure.     

Determination of ion and neutral loss compositions and deconvolution of product ion mass spectra using an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer and an ion correlation program

Exact masses of monoisotopic ions, and the relative isotopic abundances (RIAs) of ions greater in mass by 1 and 2 Da than the monoisotopic ion, are independent and complementary physical properties useful for distinguishing among elemental compositions of ions possible for a given nominal mass. Using these properties to determine elemental compositions of product ions and neutral losses increases the masses of precursor ions for which unique compositions can be determined. Compositions of the precursor ion, product ion, and neutral loss aid mass spectral interpretation and guide modest chemical literature searches for candidate standards to be obtained for confirmation of tentative compound identifications. This approach is essential for compound characterization or identification due to the absence of commercial libraries of electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) product ion spectra. For a series of 34 exact mass measurements, an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer provided 34 and 29 values accurate to within 2 and 1 mDa, respectively, for ions from eight simulated unknowns with [M+H](+) ion masses between 166 and 319 Da. Of 36 RIA measurements for +1 Da or +2 Da ions, 35 were accurate to within 20% of their predicted values (or to within 0.4 RIA % when the RIA value was less than 1%) in the absence of obvious interferences, in cases where the monoisotopic ion peak areas were at least 1.7 x 10(5) counts and the ion masses exceeded 141 Da. An ion correlation program (ICP) provided the unique and correct compositions for all but three of the 34 ions studied. Manual inspection of the data eliminated the incorrect compositions. To test the utility of the ICP for deconvoluting composite product ion spectra, all 34 ions were tested for correlation. Six of eight precursor ions were identified as such, while two were compositional subsets of others and were not properly identified. The six precursor ion compositions were still found by the ICP even though ions with masses less than 158 Da were not considered since they could no longer be correlated with a single precursor ion. Finally, two unidentified analytes were characterized, based on data published by others and using the ICP together with mass spectral interpretation.     

On-line characterization of gaseous and particulate organic analytes using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry

A modified atmospheric pressure chemical ionization ion source is applied for direct analysis of volatile or low volatile organic compounds in air. The method is based on the direct introduction of the analytes in the gas phase and/or particle phase into the ion source of a commercial ion-trap mass spectrometer. Two methods are employed for the production of primary ions at atmospheric pressure, photoionization and corona discharge. It is shown that in the presence of a dopant, photoionization can be a highly efficient ionization method also for real-time analysis with detection limits for selected analytes in the lower ppt-range. Using corona discharge for the production of primary ions, which is instrumentally easier since no additional chemicals have to be added to the sample flow, we demonstrate the analytical potential of on-line atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry for reaction monitoring experiments. To do so, an atmospherically relevant gas phase reaction is carried out in a 500 l reaction chamber and gaseous and particulate compounds are monitored in the positive and negative ion mode of the mass spectrometer.     

Thermodynamic properties of acetone calculated from accurate experimental speed of sound measurements at low temperatures and high pressures

Thermodynamic properties of fluids are both required for designing and implementing industrial processes and in different research fields; in particular they play a fundamental role in the development of equations of state (EoS). This paper describes very accurate speed of sound measurements in liquid-phase acetone along eleven isotherms in the temperature range of (248.15 and 298.15) K and over a wide range of pressure (up to 100 MPa). Since very accurate direct measurements of the fluids properties (like density and isobaric heat capacity) are relatively easy at atmospheric pressure, but difficult at elevated pressures, a combination of speed of sound measurements and numerical integration offers a well balanced approach to determine the thermodynamic properties of liquids. In this case, density and heat capacity of the liquid at high pressures are calculated by numerical integration of u^?2(p, T), using, as initial values, the same quantities (density and heat capacity) at atmospheric pressure as a function of temperature. The experimental values of speed of sound are subjected to an overall estimated uncertainty of about 0.1%.     

Direct probe CI-MS and APCI-MS for direct materials analysis

Direct probe in vacuo chemical ionization (isobutane CI-MS) and Pyroprobe atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI-MS) are complementary techniques for the analysis of polymeric materials. Both techniques can generally be used to detect residual chemicals and more volatile additives (via thermal desorption), as well as polymeric components (via pyrolysis).Isobutane CI-MS is often a “softer” technique than APCI-MS, giving less background, less fragmentation, and more predictable and reproducible spectra. APCI, on the other hand, provides a higher maximum temperature and a means to carry out sample heating at atmospheric pressure (to simulate TGA). Pyroprobe APCI with high performance instruments has the added features of high resolution mass measurement (to determine atomic compositions) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS, to obtain fragmentation patterns).     

Assessment of the various ionization methods in the analysis of metal salen complexes by mass spectrometry

Metal salen complexes are one of the most frequently used catalysts in enantioselective organic synthesis. In the present work, we compare a series of ionization methods that can be used for the mass spectral analysis of two types of metalosalens: ionic complexes (abbreviated as Com⁺X^?) and neutral complexes (NCom). These methods include electron ionization and field desorption (FD) which can be applied to pure samples and atmospheric pressure ionization techniques: electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) which are suitable for solutions. We found that FD is a method of choice for recording molecular ions of the complexes containing even loosely bonded ligands. The results obtained using atmospheric pressure ionization methods show that the results depend mainly on the structure of metal salen complex and the ionization method. In ESI spectra, Com⁺ ions were observed, while in APCI and APPI spectra both Com⁺ and [Com + H]⁺ ions are observed in the ratio depending on the structure of the metal salen complex and the solvent used in the analysis. For complexes with tetrafluoroborate counterion, an elimination of BF₃ took place, and ions corresponding to complexes with fluoride counterion were observed. Experiments comparing the relative sensitivity of ESI, APCI and APPI (with and without a dopant) methods showed that for the majority of the studied complexes ESI is the most sensitive one; however, the sensitivity of APCI is usually less than two times lower and for some compounds is even higher than the sensitivity of ESI. Both methods show very high linearity of the calibration curve in a range of about 3 orders of magnitude of the sample concentration. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

减压提取与常压提取柴胡挥发油品质比较

对比减压和常压条件下提取的柴胡挥发油在成分、含量及药效方面的差异,考察挥发油的品质,优选提取方法.采用气相色谱-质谱联用(GC-MS)法分析柴胡挥发油成分及其相对含量,再采用气相色谱法建立挥发油中己醛、庚醛、正辛醛和反式-2,4-癸二烯醛的含量检测方法,测定不同压力下提取的柴胡挥发油有效成分含量,通过背部皮下注射酵母混...     

Determination of antimony, arsenic, bismuth, selenium, tellurium and tin by low pressure atomic absorption spectrometry with a quartz tube furnace atomizer and hydride generation with air addition

A new method has been developed for the determination of antimony, arsenic, bismuth, selenium, tellurium and tin by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry in an electrically heated quartz tube furnace under sub-atmospheric pressure. The hydride generator, operating at a pressure lower than atmospheric, is used to generate and collect the hydrides of these elements. A certain volume (at atmospheric pressure) of air is then added to the generator after the formation of the volatile hydride. The gaseous mixture of the hydride and air is drawn into an evacuated, heated quartz tube by a vacuum pump. The proposed method gives improved sensitivities and detection limits.     

Atmospheric pressure photoionization mechanisms. 2. The case of benzene and toluene

Benzene and toluene have been proposed previously as dopants in atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) experiments on compounds exhibiting ionization energies higher than the energy of photons used for irradiation. Their low ionization energies lead to their easy photoionization and the ions so formed lead to the ionization of analytes through charge exchange. However, some measurements have shown that some protonation reactions also take place, and a series of experiments was undertaken to investigate this unexpected behavior. It was shown that, when benzene is irradiated in the APPI source, the odd-electron molecular ions of phenol, diphenyl ether and phenoxyphenol are produced in high yield, together with protonated diphenyl ether and protonated phenoxyphenol. These results have been confirmed by deuterium labelling and MS(n) experiments. A possible mechanism is proposed, based on a radical attack by benzene molecular ions on oxygen molecules present inside the APPI source, analogous to that proposed in the literature for phenyl radicals. Similar results have been obtained with toluene, proving that APPI is able to activate a series of reactions leading to highly reactive species which are highly effective in promoting ionization of molecules with ionization energies higher than the photon energy.     

Spectroscopic characterization of a microplasma used as ionization source for ion mobility spectrometry

We report a miniaturized excitation source for soft ionization of molecules based on a dielectric barrier discharge. An atmospheric plasma is established at the end of a 500 μm diameter capillary using He as buffer gas. The plasma jet which comes out of the capillary is dependent on the gas flow rate. The mechanism of the production of N₂⁺ outside the capillary, which is relevant for the protonation of molecules and sustains the production of primary ions, is investigated by spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements throughout the plasma. Possible application of such miniaturized plasmas is the ionization of gaseous compounds under atmospheric pressure as an alternative to traditional APCI (atmospheric pressure chemical ionization). The miniaturized plasma was applied as ionization source for ion mobility spectrometry where the common sources are radioactive, thus limiting the place of installation. First measurements of gaseous compounds with such a plasma ion mobility spectrometer with promising results showed detection limits comparable or even better than those obtained using common radioactive ionization sources.     

Coulometric titrations of bases in propylene carbonate using hydrogenpalladium and deuteriumpalladium generator electrodes

The application of hydrogen and deuterium ions obtained by anodic oxidation of hydrogen and deuterium dissolved in palladium, for the coulometric determination of bases (both individual and in mixtures) in propylene carbonate, is described. The current-potential curves at a palladium anode for supporting electrolyte indicator, titrated bases, hydrogen dissolved in palladium and deuterium dissolved in palladium showed that hydrogen and deuterium are oxidized at much less positive potentials than the oxidation potentials of other substances present in the solution. The generated H⁺ and D⁺ ions were used for the titration of bases (pyridine, quinoline, triethylamine, n-butylaniline, 2,2′-dipiridyl and aminopyrine) with visual and potentiometric detection. The oxidation of hydrogen and deuterium proceeded with 100% current efficiency. Two-component mixtures of bases (aliphatic + aromatic amine) were titrated successfully by using two indicators, Eosin and Crystal Violet. The relative error of the determination with respect to each individual base determination, was less than 2.5% for quantities of bases ranging from 1 to 3 mg.     

Determination of gas phase protein ion densities via ion mobility analysis with charge reduction

We use a charge reduction electrospray (ESI) source and subsequent ion mobility analysis with a differential mobility analyzer (DMA, with detection via both a Faraday cage electrometer and a condensation particle counter) to infer the densities of single and multiprotein ions of cytochrome C, lysozyme, myoglobin, ovalbumin, and bovine serum albumin produced from non-denaturing (20 mM aqueous ammonium acetate) and denaturing (1?:?49.5?:?49.5, formic acid?:?methanol?:?water) ESI. Charge reduction is achieved through use of a Po-210 radioactive source, which generates roughly equal concentrations of positive and negative ions. Ions produced by the source collide with and reduce the charge on ESI generated drops, preventing Coulombic fissions, and unlike typical protein ESI, leading to gas-phase protein ions with +1 to +3 excess charges. Therefore, charge reduction serves to effectively mitigate any role that Coulombic stretching may play on the structure of the gas phase ions. Density inference is made via determination of the mobility diameter, and correspondingly the spherical equivalent protein volume. Through this approach it is found that for both non-denaturing and denaturing ESI-generated ions, gas-phase protein ions are relatively compact, with average densities of 0.97 g cm(-3) and 0.86 g cm(-3), respectively. Ions from non-denaturing ESI are found to be slightly more compact than predicted from the protein crystal structures, suggesting that low charge state protein ions in the gas phase are slightly denser than their solution conformations. While a slight difference is detected between the ions produced with non-denaturing and denaturing ESI, the denatured ions are found to be much more dense than those examined previously by drift tube mobility analysis, in which charge reduction was not employed. This indicates that Coulombic stretching is typically what leads to non-compact ions in the gas-phase, and suggests that for gas phase measurements to be correlated to biomolecular structures in solution, low charge state ions should be analyzed. Further, to determine if different solution conditions give rise to ions of different structure, ions of similar charge state should be compared. Non-denatured protein ion densities are found to be in excellent agreement with non-denatured protein ion densities inferred from prior DMA and drift tube measurements made without charge reduction (all ions with densities in the 0.85-1.10 g cm(-3) range), showing that these ions are not strongly influenced by Coulombic stretching nor by analysis method.     

Liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry with post-column liquid mixing for the efficient determination of partially oxidized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The analytical hyphenation of micro-flow high-performance liquid chromatography (LC), with post-column liquid mixing and mass spectrometric detection (MS) was established to detect partially oxidized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (oxy-PAHs) for low quantity samples. 100pmol injections of 30 reference standards could be detected in good sensitivity using either atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and/or atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI). The connected mass spectrometer was a single quadrupol analyzer realizing simultaneous registration of positive and negative ions in scan range width of 200 - 300Da. The ionization efficiency was compared using three ionization sources (incl. electrospray ionization (ESI)) for several oxy-PAHs. According to the mass spectra, the analytes behave differently in ionization properties. Ionization mechanism (e.g. deprotonated ions and electron captured ions) could be discussed with new inside views. Finally, the hyphenated system was applied to an exemplary aerosol extract and thus highlighting the expedient utilization of this downscaled method for real samples.