A novel, gas-tight API interface for gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to study the ionization mechanism in direct and dopant-assisted atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and atmospheric pressure laser ionization (APLI). Eight analytes (ethylbenzene, bromobenzene, naphthalene, anthracene, benzaldehyde, pyridine, quinolone, and acridine) with varying ionization energies (IEs) and proton affinities (PAs), and four common APPI dopants (toluene, acetone, anisole, and chlorobenzene) were chosen. All the studied compounds were ionized by direct APPI, forming mainly molecular ions. Addition of dopants suppressed the signal of the analytes with IEs above the IE of the dopant. For compounds with suitable IEs or Pas, the dopants increased the ionization efficiency as the analytes could be ionized through dopant-mediated gas-phase reactions, such as charge exchange, proton transfer, and other rather unexpected reactions, such as formation of [M?+?77]+ in the presence of chlorobenzene. Experiments with deuterated toluene as the dopant verified that in case of proton transfer, the proton originated from the dopant instead of proton-bound solvent clusters, as in conventional open or non-tight APPI sources. In direct APLI using a 266 nm laser, a narrower range of compounds was ionized than in direct APPI, because of exceedingly high IEs or unfavorable two-photon absorption cross-sections. Introduction of dopants in the APLI system changed the ionization mechanism to similar dopant-mediated gas-phase reactions with the dopant as in APPI, which produced mainly ions of the same form as in APPI, and ionized a wider range of analytes than direct APLI. Graphical Abstract
Dopant-assisted atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (dAPCI) is a soft ionization method rarely used for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The current study combines GC-dAPCI with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for analysis of a complex mixture such as lignin pyrolysis analysis. To identify the structures of volatile lignin pyrolysis products, collision-induced dissociation (CID) MS/MS using a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (QTOFMS) and pseudo MS/MS through in-source collision-induced dissociation (ISCID) using a single stage TOFMS are utilized. To overcome the lack of MS/MS database, Compound Structure Identification (CSI):FingerID is used to interpret CID spectra and predict best matched structures from PubChem library. With this approach, a total of 59 compounds were positively identified in comparison to only 22 in NIST database search of GC-EI-MS dataset. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of GC-dAPCI-MS/MS to overcome the limitations of traditional GC-EI-MS analysis when EI-MS database is not sufficient.
In this paper, we demonstrate the first use of an atmospheric pressure microplasma-based vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization source in atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry applications. The device is a robust, easy-to-operate microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) that enables generation of VUV photons from Ne and Ne/H2 gas mixtures. Photons were detected by excitation of a microchannel plate detector and by analysis of diagnostic sample ions using a mass spectrometer. Reactive ions, charged particles, and metastables produced in the discharge were blocked from entering the ionization region by means of a lithium fluoride window, and photoionization was performed in a nitrogen-purged environment. By reducing the output pressure of the MHCD, we observed heightened production of higher-energy photons, making the photoionization source more effective. The initial performance of the MHCD VUV source has been evaluated by ionizing model analytes such as acetone, azulene, benzene, dimethylaniline, and glycine, which were introduced in solid or liquid phase. These molecules represent species with both high and low proton affinities, and ionization energies ranging from 7.12 to 9.7 eV. Figure
For p-(dimethylamino)chalcone (p-DMAC), the N atom is the most basic site in the liquid phase, whereas the O atom possesses the highest proton affinity in the gas phase. A novel and interesting observation is reported that the N- and O-protonated p-DMAC can be competitively produced in atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) with the change of solvents and ionization conditions. In neat methanol or acetonitrile, the protonation is always under thermodynamic control to form the O-protonated ion. When methanol/water or acetonitrile/water was used as the solvent, the protonation is kinetically controlled to form the N-protonated ion under conditions of relatively high infusion rate and high concentration of water in the mixed solvent. The regioselectivity of protonation of p-DMAC in APCI is probably attributed to the bulky solvent cluster reagent ions (SnH+) and the analyte having different preferred protonation sites in the liquid phase and gas phase.
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
Laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) combined with ClMn(H(2)O)(+) chemical ionization (CI) was tested for the analysis of nonpolar lipids and selected steroids in a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR). The nonpolar lipids studied, cholesterol, 5α-cholestane, cholesta-3,5-diene, squalene, and β-carotene, were found to solely form the desired water replacement product (adduct-H(2)O) with the ClMn(H(2)O)(+) ions. The steroids, androsterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estrone, estradiol, and estriol, also form abundant adduct-H(2)O ions, but less abundant adduct-2H(2)O ions were also observed. Neither (+)APCI nor (+)ESI can ionize the saturated hydrocarbon lipid, cholestane. APCI successfully ionizes the unsaturated hydrocarbon lipids to form exclusively the intact protonated analytes. However, it causes extensive fragmentation for cholesterol and the steroids. The worst case is cholesterol that does not produce any stable protonated molecules. On the other hand, ESI cannot ionize any of the hydrocarbon analytes, saturated or unsaturated. However, ESI can be used to protonate the oxygen-containing analytes with substantially less fragmentation than for APCI in all cases except for cholesterol and estrone. In conclusion, LIAD/ClMn(H(2)O)(+) chemical ionization is superior over APCI and ESI for the mass spectrometric characterization of underivatized nonpolar lipids and steroids. 相似文献
An internal standard system has been developed for a mass spectrometer equipped with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source. The system has been used to overcome sensitivity drift problems that are commonly encountered when the spectrometer is used for long-term environmental monitoring. Additionally, the internal standard has been used to correct sensitivity changes induced by the matrix being analyzed. Principal components of the system are a low concentration internal standard source and a flow-delivery system for introducing the standard to the reagent gas delivery stream of the spectrometer. Following an experiment, real-time data are downloaded to a personal computer where internal standard correction and data analysis are performed. Application of the internal standard to the measurement of nicotine and pyridine is demonstrated. 相似文献
We propose detecting a fragment ion (Ph2As+) using counter-flow introduction atmospheric pressure chemical ionization ion trap mass spectrometry for sensitive air monitoring of chemical warfare vomiting agents diphenylchloroarsine (DA) and diphenylcyanoarsine (DC). The liquid sample containing of DA, DC, and bis(diphenylarsine)oxide (BDPAO) was heated in a dry air line, and the generated vapor was mixed into the humidified air flowing through the sampling line of a mass spectrometer. Humidity effect on the air monitoring was investigated by varying the humidity of the analyzed air sample. Evidence of the in-line conversion of DA and DC to diphenylarsine hydroxide (DPAH) and then BDPAO was obtained by comparing the chronograms of various ions from the beginning of heating. Multiple-stage mass spectrometry revealed that the protonated molecule (MH+) of DA, DC, DPAH, and BDPAO could produce Ph2As+ through their in-source fragmentation. Among the signals of the ions that were investigated, the Ph2As+ signal was the most intense and increased to reach a plateau with the increased air humidity, whereas the MH+ signal of DA decreased. It was suggested that DA and DC were converted in-line into BDPAO, which was a major source of Ph2As+.
We demonstrate the first application of laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) as a mass spectrometric method for detecting low-polarity organics. This was accomplished using a Lyman-α (10.2 eV) photon generating microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) microplasma photon source in conjunction with the addition of a gas-phase molecular dopant. This combination provided a soft desorption and a relatively soft ionization technique. Selected compounds analyzed include α-tocopherol, perylene, cholesterol, phenanthrene, phylloquinone, and squalene. Detectable surface concentrations as low as a few pmol per spot sampled were achievable using test molecules. The combination of LIAD and APPI provided a soft desorption and ionization technique that can allow detection of labile, low-polarity, structurally complex molecules over a wide mass range with minimal fragmentation.
This contribution reports on the development of an atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) source interfacing a gas chromatograph (GC) with a bench-top Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometer (MS). We present efforts on method development aiming at high temperature stability (325°C), constant low impurity levels upon prolonged source operation, and efficient reaction volume irradiation combined with minimum peak broadening. The performance throughout each iterative development step was carefully assessed. The final GC-APPI-MS setup demonstrated femtogram-on-column sensitivity and chromatographic peaks of Gaussian shape with base peak widths <2 s for even the highest boiling compounds present in different EPA standard mixtures.
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.
