Laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) was successfully coupled to a conventional atmospheric pressure chemical ionization
(APCI) source in a commercial linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer (LQIT). Model compounds representing a wide variety
of different types, including basic nitrogen and oxygen compounds, aromatic and aliphatic compounds, as well as unsaturated
and saturated hydrocarbons, were tested separately and as a mixture. These model compounds were successfully evaporated into
the gas phase by using LIAD and then ionized by using APCI with different reagents. From the four APCI reagent systems tested,
neat carbon disulfide provided the best results. The mixture of methanol and water produced primarily protonated molecules,
as expected. However, only the most basic compounds yielded ions under these conditions. In sharp contrast, using APCI with
either neat benzene or neat carbon disulfide as the reagent resulted in the ionization of all the analytes studied to predominantly
yield stable molecular ions. Benzene yielded a larger fraction of protonated molecules than carbon disulfide, which is a disadvantage.
A similar but minor amount of fragmentation was observed for these two reagents. When the experiment was performed without
a liquid reagent (nitrogen gas was the reagent), more fragmentation was observed. Analysis of a known mixture as well as a
petroleum cut was also carried out. In summary, the new experiment presented here allows the evaporation of thermally labile
compounds, both polar and nonpolar, without dissociation or aggregation, and their ionization to predominantly form stable
molecular ions. 相似文献
Efforts to analyze trace levels of cyclic peroxides by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry gave evidence that acetonitrile suppressed ion formation. Further investigations extended this discovery to ketones, linear peroxides, esters, and possibly many other types of compounds, including triazole and menadione. Direct ionization suppression caused by acetonitrile was observed for multiple adduct types in both electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. The addition of only 2% acetonitrile significantly decreased the sensitivity of analyte response. Efforts to identify the mechanism were made using various nitriles. The ion suppression was reduced by substitution of an acetonitrile hydrogen with an electron-withdrawing group, but was exacerbated by electron-donating or steric groups adjacent to the nitrile. Although current theory does not explain this phenomenon, we propose that polar interactions between the various functionalities and the nitrile may be forming neutral aggregates that manifest as ionization suppression.
