Thin-Film Microextraction Coupled with Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Thin-film microextraction (TFME) is a format of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique which offers improvement of sensitivity without sacrificing time through the increase of available surface area and extractive phase volume. This technique offers significant advantages which make it attractive for many analytical/bioanalytical applications. This review discusses the fundamental principle of TFME and its benefits versus the rod fiber geometry of SPME, and demonstrates the agreements of the experimental data for the available TFME systems with the theoretical concept. The current configurations, coating chemistries, coating preparation methods, and applications for TFME system are reported.     

Preliminary Characterization of the Composition and Phenolic Fragmentation of Olive Byproducts by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Olive waste is a potential resource due to its rich variety of biologically active compounds. To investigate chemical components of olive waste, the selected samples were extracted using ultrasound assisted enzyme hydrolysis and petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butyl alcohol were used to obtain a series of solvent extracts. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed hydrocarbons, esters, acids, alcohols, and ketones present in the extracts. Some fatty acids were considered to be predominant; it is noteworthy that phenolic compounds were detected in the ethyl acetate extract fraction. Furthermore, the primary phenolic compounds were also determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The possible fragmentation patterns have been proposed in positive and negative ion modes; the main fragment ions were observed from the loss of methyl, hydroxyl, or carboxyl groups. The compounds showed different fragmentation ions types in both positive and negative ionization modes and gave structural information on the main phenolic compounds in olive waste. The results of this study may be used to identify valuable active compounds and guide commercial applications of olive waste.     

Determination of Organotin Compounds in Wine by Microwave-Assisted Extraction and High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A new analytical procedure for the determination of five organotin compounds in several matrix wine samples is reported. The organotin compounds were extracted by microwave-assisted extraction with n-hexane. Extraction conditions, such as volume of n-hexane required, extraction temperature, and extraction time, were investigated and optimized by an orthogonal array experimental design. The determination of organotin compounds in the final extracts was carried out by liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The procedure showed limits of detection between 0.029–0.049 µg · L^?1. The linearity was in the range of 0.5 to 100 µg · L^?1. The precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) was below 9.43%. The developed method was successfully employed to analyze different matrix wine samples, and some analytes were detected at the level of 0.053 to 1.14 µg · L^?1.     

Determination of Fructooligosaccharides in Infant Formula by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Infant formula provides a good source of fructooligosaccharides, which are considered to be functional ingredients of food due to their positive effects on gastrointestinal function. This study presents a simple and specific ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the ultrasensitive determination of three fructooligosaccharides in infant formula. The analytes were extracted using acetonitrile-water solutions. The compounds were separated with an amide column by gradient elution using acetonitrile and water as mobile phases. The identification and quantification were achieved by using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in negative ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring. Accuracy, precision, limits of quantification, and limits of detection of the method were obtained. Under the optimal conditions, all calibration curves for fructooligosaccharides targets showed good linearity (R² ≥ 0.998). The limits of detection and quantification were below 0.82 and 2.74 ng mL^?1, respectively. The recoveries of the method ranged from 98.5% to 104.4%. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first quantitative determination of fructooligosaccharides in infant formula by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The method may be suitable for the determination of trace concentrations of fructooligosaccharides in other food.     

Characterization of Phosphatidylethanolamine Molecular Species in Human Blood by On-Line High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Quadrupole-Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

As an important constituent in the biomembranes, phospholipids (PL) are a complex mixture of molecular species containing a variety of fatty acyl and head group compositions. In addition to their structural role, some phospholipids also participate in biological processes in various     

Determination of Phytate in Urine by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

An indirect method is described for determination of phytate in human urine. The method is based on hydrolysis of the phytate and determination of myo-inositol, one of the hydrolysis products. Chromatographic separations were performed on an Aminex HPX-87C column with Milli-Q water as mobile phase; 5 mM ammonium acetate was added post-column. The detector counted positive ions by monitoring m/z=198, which corresponds to the adduct of myo-inositol with the ammonium cation. The relative standard deviations obtained for standards containing 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mg L^–1 phytate were 4.1, 3.0, and 2.7% respectively (n=5). The limit of detection was 60 g L^–1. Different urine samples were analyzed both by this method and by an alternative analytical method based on GC–MS. The results from both methods were comparable.     

Ion-Pairing Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry for the Simultaneous Determination of Nucleosides and Nucleotides

Adenosine and its corresponding nucleotides adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), adenosine 5'-diphosphate ( ADP ) and adenosine 5'-triphos-phate (ATP) are important biomolecules that provide energy and substrates for various cellular bio-chemical processes. There have been strong     

Ion-Pairing Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry for the Simultaneous Determination of Nucleosides and Nucleotides

Adenosineanditscorrespondingnucleotidesadenosine 5′monophosphate (AMP) ,adenosine 5′diphosphate (ADP)andadenosine 5′triphosphate(ATP)areimportantbiomoleculesthatprovideen ergyandsubstratesforvariouscellularbiochemicalprocesses[1] .Therehavebeenstrongde…     

Characterization of Oil by Micro-Solid-Phase Extraction and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Micro-solid-phase extraction is reported for the preparation of Bohai crude oil for the determination of hydrocarbons by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The operational parameters were optimized. Micro-solid-phase extraction provided higher quantities of low-molecular weight components than conventional liquid chromatography. The concentrations of high-molecular weight n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and their alkylated homologs obtained were comparable by micro-solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography. The diagnostic ratios also indicated that there were no significant differences between these methods. Therefore, micro-solid-phase extraction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is recommended for the characterization of spilled oil.     

Rapid Determination of Coumatetralyl in Human Serum by High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A rapid, sensitive, and selective high‐performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometric method (HPLC‐MS‐MS) for the determination of coumatetralyl in human serum using warfarin as an internal standard has been developed and validated. Coumatetralyl and the internal standard were extracted from the human serum samples by liquid‐liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, followed by separation on a XDB C₁₈ reversed‐phase column (150 mm×2.1 mm i.d., 5 µm) using a mobile phase consisting of acetic acid‐ammonium acetate (5 mmol/L, pH=4.5)/methanol (20:80, v/v) at a constant flow rate of 0.40 mL/min. Coumatetralyl and the internal standard were ionized by negative ion pneumatically assisted electrospray and detected in the multiple‐reaction monitoring mode using precursor→product ion combinations at m/z 291→247 and 307→161, respectively. The calibration curve was linear (r²=0.9945) in the concentration range of 0.5～100.0 ng/mL, with a lower limit of quantification of 0.5 ng/mL in human serum. Intra‐ and inter‐day relative standard deviations were less than 6.3 and 11.0%, respectively. The mean extraction recovery was 87.9% for coumatetralyl and 90.1% for the internal standard. This method is found to be able to determine trace coumatetralyl in human serum and can be used for the diagnosis of poisoned human beings.     

Performance and Attributes of Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry with Targeted Charge Separation in Quantitative Analysis of Therapeutic Peptides

Herein we describe a new method, targeted enhanced multiply charged scans (tEMC), for the quantification of therapeutic peptides in tandem mass spectrometry on the linear ion trap mass spectrometer. Therapeutic peptides with chain lengths between eight and 39 amino acid residues and charge states from 2+ to 6+ were used to evaluate and illustrate the method which relies on the ability to separate ions trapped in a linear ion trap according to their charges. In particular, interference from singly charged ions on multiply charged ions can be effectively minimized. The method requires optimization of relatively few parameters, the most important of which being the exit lens barrier (EXB) voltage, thereby offering substantial time saving in a high-throughput quantification environment that currently relies on selected reaction monitoring.     

Characterization of in Vitro Metabolism of Loganin by Human Intestinal Microflora Using Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Human intestinal microbiota comprise a complex biological system with considerable metabolic activity. Various studies have focused on the bioconversion of flavonoids. However, in addition to flavonoids, bioactive components such as iridoids also exist in many natural and traditional Chinese medicines. Little is known about the interactions of the iridoids with bacteria. Loganin, one of the main effective iridoids in the valuable traditional Chinese herbal medicine Cornus officinalis, exhibits various pharmacological activities and biological effects. Human intestinal bacteria were isolated and the conversion capability of loganin was investigated. The metabolites were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Loganin was metabolized to hydrogenated and hydroxylated loganin sulfate, acetylated loganin, loganetin, methylated loganetin, hydrogenated, and hydroxylated loganetin. The metabolic routes and metabolites of loganin were reported for the first time. These metabolites may influence the biological activities of loganin in vivo. Thus, this study provides fundamental information about a traditional Chinese medicine.     

Determination of Phthalates in Milk by Ultrasound-Assisted Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction was coupled with gas chromatography—mass spectrometry for the determination of phthalate esters in milk. Dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and dioctyl phthalate were analyzed in five brands of pasteurized Turkish milk. The efficiencies of the extraction procedure for the analytes were between 66 and 100%. The linear dynamic ranges of the calibration curves were from 0.025 to 1.000 µg/mL with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99. The precision of the method is acceptable with relative standard deviation values below 5%. Dibutyl phthalate and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were commonly observed in milk.     

Determination of Flavonoids in Stellaria by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The genus Stellaria (Caryophyllaceae) presents widely distributed plants often used in traditional medicine. Flavonoids are highly active plant secondary metabolites that may be involved in some of the effects of Stellaria plants. In this study, two new high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI-MS-MS) methods were developed for the determination of flavonoids and isoflavonoids in plant material. The separations were performed on a reverse-phase C₁₈ column with gradient elution using methanol and water with 0.5% acetic acid as the mobile phase. Multiple reaction monitoring was used for the tandem mass spectrometry detection and the two most intensive transitions were chosen for the identification of each analyte. The limits of detection and the limits of quantification were between 0.2 and 15.0 ng/mL and 0.6 and 50.0 ng/mL. The developed methods were successfully used for the analyses of four representatives of the genus Stellaria. All the studied herbs contained luteolin and its 7-O-glycosides, naringenin, kaempferol, quercetin, its glycoside rutin, apigenin, and its 7-O-glycoside. One coumarin, scopoletin, was also found. Isoflavones were primarily represented by genistein, genistin, and ononin. Some of the analytes were detected for the first time in Stellaria sp. The findings support that these methods are suitable for analyses of plant material.     

Determination of Fluoxetine in Human Plasma by Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Its Application

Abstract

A rapid, simple, and specific liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–mass spectrometric method has been developed and validated for the determination of fluoxetine in human plasma. The method was validated with a linear range of 0.5–100 ng mL^?1, and the lowest limits of quantification were 0.5 ng mL^?1 for fluoxetine. The extraction efficiencies were about 65% and recoveries of method were in the range of 94.0–97.5%. The intraday relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 11% and interday RSD was within 12%. The method has been successfully applied to the evaluation of pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of fluoxetine.     

Analysis of Chloramphenicol Residues in Honey by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Antibiotics are often used in bee-keeping to control European and American foulbrood. The broad spectrum antibiotic chloramphenicol (CAP) was used for curative purposes in veterinary medicine, but is now forbidden in numerous countries, although still used in south-east Asia. A liquid-chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC–MS–MS) has been developed for analysis of sub-g kg^–1 residues of chloramphenicol in honey. Results from full validation of the procedure and analysis of 75 honey samples obtained commercially in Switzerland are presented. These show the method is satisfactory and useful for monitoring chloramphenicol residues in honey.     

Ultra-fast cyclosporin A quantitation in whole blood by Laser Diode Thermal Desorption – Tandem Mass Spectrometry; comparison with High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

In the last decade the quantitation of immunosuppressive drugs has seen vast improvements in analytical methods, optimizing time, accuracy of analysis and cost. Laser Diode Thermal Desorption (LDTD) coupled to Atmospheric Pressure Chemical ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (APCI-MS/MS) represents a technological breakthrough that removes the chromatographic separation step and thereby significantly increases the analytical throughput for the quantitation of cyclosporin A (CsA) in whole blood for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).     

Determination of Aflatoxins in Rice and Maize by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry with Accelerated Solvent Extraction and Solid-Phase Extraction

A fast and reliable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the determination of aflatoxins B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂ in cereal. The analytes were extracted by accelerated solvent extraction with methanol/water (80:20). A polymeric solid-phase extraction column was used for sample preparation. Under optimum conditions, the analyte recoveries for samples spiked at different concentration levels in rice and maize ranged from 71.2 to 94.0%, with relative standard deviations less than 16.4%. Limits of detection (signal-to-noise ratio, 3:1) for the aflatoxins ranged from 0.25 to 0.93 ng/g. The developed method was applied to the determination of aflatoxins in ten rice and maize samples. One maize sample tested positive with an aflatoxin B₁ concentration of 2.7 ng/g.