Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, retention indices and time-of-flight mass spectra of flavonoids and chalcones

The applicability of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) for flavonoids analysis was investigated by separation and identification of flavonoids in standards, and a complex matrix natural sample. The modulation temperature was optimized to achieve the best separation and signal enhancement. The separation pattern of trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives of flavonoids was compared on two complementary column sets. Whilst the BPX5/BPX50 (NP/P) column set offers better overall separation, BPX50/BPX5 (P/NP) provides better peak shape and sensitivity. Comparison of the identification power of GC×GC-TOFMS against both the NIST05 MS library and a laboratory (created in-house) TOFMS library was carried out on a flavonoid mixture. The basic retention index information on high-performance capillary columns with a non-polar stationary phase was established and database of mass spectra of trimethylsilyl derivatives of flavonoids was compiled. TOFMS coupled to GC×GC enabled satisfactory identification of flavonoids in complex matrix samples at their LOD over a range of 0.5-10 μg/mL. Detection of all compounds was based on full-scan mass spectra and for each compound a characteristic ion was chosen for further quantification. This study shows that GC×GC-TOFMS yields high specificity for flavonoids derived from real natural samples, dark chocolate, propolis, and chrysanthemum.     

Comparison of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of tobacco essential oils

A sample of tobacco essential oil was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/TOFMS), respectively. In the GC/MS analysis, serially coupled columns were used. By comparing the GC/MS results with GC × GC/TOFMS results, many more components in the essential oil could be found within the two-dimensional separation space of GC × GC. The quantitative determination of components in the essential oil was performed by GC × GC with flame ionization detection (FID), using a method of multiple internal standards calibration.     

Amino acid analysis by using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

The separation characteristics of alkylchloroformate-derivatised amino acids (AAs) by using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) is reported. The use of a low-polarity/polar column set did not provide as good a separation performance as that achieved with a polar/non-polar column set, where the latter appeared to provide less correlation over the separation space. The degree of component correlation in each column set was estimated by using the correlation coefficient (r²; for ¹t_R and ²t_R data) with the low-polarity/polar and polar/low-polarity sets returning correlation coefficients of 0.86, and 0.00 respectively, under the respective conditions employed for the experiments. The 1.5-m non-polar ²D column (0.1-mm ID; 0.1-m film thickness) gave peak halfwidths of the order of 50–80 ms. Linearity of detection was good, over a three order of magnitude concentration range, with typical lower detection limit of ca. 0.01 mg L^–1, compared with 0.5 mg L^–1 for normal GC operation with splitless injection. The method was demonstrated for analysis of AAs in a range of food and beverage products, including wine, beer and honey. The major AA in these samples was proline. The Heineken beer sample had a relatively more complex and more abundant AA content compared with the other beer sample. The wine and honey samples also gave a range of AA compounds. Repetition of the sample preparation/analysis procedure for the honey sample gave acceptable reproducibility for individual AAs.     

Chemical characterization of aromatic compounds in extra heavy gas oil by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) was used for the characterization of aromatic compounds present in extra heavy gas oil (EHGO) from Brazil. Individual identification of EHGO compounds was successfully achieved in addition to group-type separation on the chromatographic plane. Many aromatic hydrocarbons, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds, were detected and identified, such as chrysenes, phenanthrenes, perylenes, benzonaphthothiophenes and alkylbenzonaphthothiophenes. In addition, triaromatic steroids, methyl-triaromatic steroids, tetrahydrochrysenes and tetraromatic pentacyclic compounds were present in the EHGO aromatic fractions. Considering the roof-tile effect observed for many of these compound classes and the high number of individual compounds identified, GC×GC-TOFMS is an excellent technique to characterize the molecular composition of the aromatic fraction from EHGO samples. Moreover, data processing allowed the quantification of aromatic compounds, in class and individually, using external standards. EHGO data were obtained in μgg(-1), e.g., benzo[a]pyrene were in the range 351 to 1164μgg(-1). Thus, GC×GC-TOFMS was successfully applied in EHGO quantitative analysis.     

Evaluation of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the diagnosis of inherited metabolic disorders using an automated data processing strategy

Organic acidurias are a large group of inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs), commonly diagnosed by GC-MS analysis of organic acids in urine after acidic extraction and trimethylsilylation. In this study, a GC×GC-ToF-MS method has been optimized for the analysis of pathological metabolites in urine. An automated data processing strategy based on the use of mass spectra and GC retention times for the target search and quantification of pathological metabolites has been developed. Using this procedure, each unknown sample is automatically examined for the presence of markers of several diseases at the same time. The method has been applied for the analysis of 6 challenging proficiency testing samples from patients with IMDs (thymidine phosphorylase deficiency, mevalonic aciduria, hawkinsinuria, aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency, propionic acidemia and medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency). Using the GC×GC-ToF-MS method, we were able to determine complete sets of markers for all the IMDs. The quality of the mass spectral matches for the pathological markers was higher than 800 (out of 1000).     

Measurement of PCDDs, PCDFs, and non-ortho-PCBs by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-isotope dilution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC x GC-IDTOFMS)

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with isotope-dilution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-IDTOFMS) was used to measure polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyl (cPCB) concentrations in ash, sediment, vegetation, and fish samples. The GC × GC capability was achieved by using a quad jet, dual stage, thermal modulator. Zone compression of the GC peaks from modulation resulted in a significant increase of the signal intensity over classical GC-IDTOFMS. The GC × GC column set used an Rtx-Dioxin 2 phase as the first dimension (¹D) and an Rtx-500 as the second dimension (²D). The chromatographic separation of the 17 PCDD/Fs and the 4 cPCBs was attained in ¹D except for 2,3,7,8-TCDD and CB126 for which deconvoluted ion currents (DIC) were required to be reported separately. The Rtx-500 phase separated the bulk matrix interfering compounds from the target analytes in ²D. The instrumental limit of detection (iLODs) was 0.5 pg for 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The calibration curves showed good correlation coefficients for all the compounds investigated in the concentration range of 0.5–200 pg. GC × GC-IDTOFMS results compared favorably to those from conventional isotope-dilution one-dimensional gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-IDHRMS). The comprehensive mass analysis of the TOFMS further permitted the identification of other contaminants of concern in the samples.     

Headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the determination of volatile compounds from marine salt

In this work, a methodology to characterise the volatile and semi-volatile compounds from marine salt by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/TOFMS) was developed. Samples from two saltpans of Aveiro, in Portugal, with diverse locations, obtained over three years (2004, 2005, and 2007) were analysed. A 50/30 μm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane SPME fibre was used. The volatiles present in the headspace of the solid salt samples (crystals) were equilibrated overnight at 60 °C and extracted for 60 min prior to injection in the GC × GC/TOFMS. 157 compounds, distributed over the chemical groups of hydrocarbons, aldehydes, esters, furans, haloalkanes, ketones, ethers, alcohols, terpenoids, C₁₃ norisoprenoids, and lactones were detected across the samples. Furans, haloalkanes and ethers were identified for the first time in marine salt. The large number of co-elutions on the first column that were resolved by the GC × GC system revealed the complexity of marine salt volatile composition. The existence of a structured 2D chromatographic behaviour according to volatility, in the first dimension (¹D), and primarily polarity, in the second dimension (²D), was demonstrated, allowing more reliable identifications. The resolution and sensitivity of GC × GC/TOFMS enabled the separation and identification of a higher number of volatile compounds compared to GC–qMS, allowing a deeper characterisation of this natural product.     

全二维气相色谱-飞行时间质谱联用技术分析重馏分油中芳烃组成

通过对升温速度、二维补偿温度、调制周期等关键实验参数的优化,建立了全二维气相色谱-飞行时间质谱(GC×GC-TOF MS)分析重馏分油中芳烃组分的方法,得到了重馏分油芳烃组分按环数分布的二维点阵图。根据谱库检索、标准化合物对照及文献报道,对重馏分油芳烃组分中菲、甲基菲及芘、苯并蒽等常见多环芳烃(PAH)进行了准确定性,并将该方法应用到重馏分油加氢处理工艺研究中,对菲、芘的加氢处理产物进行了定性分析。该研究为重馏分油芳烃组分的准确定性提供了新的技术手段,为加深对油品加氢规律的认识提供了技术支持。全二维气相色谱与普通一维色谱对比,在重馏分油的芳烃组分分析上体现了极大优势。     

Simultaneous analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated naphthalenes by isotope dilution comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) are listed as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention. Because they have similar physical and chemical properties, they are coeluted and are usually analyzed separately by different gas chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) methods. In this study, a novel method was developed for simultaneous analysis of six indicator PCBs, 12 dioxin-like PCBs, and 16 PCNs using isotope dilution comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-HRTOF-MS). The method parameters, including the type of GC column, oven temperature program, and modulation period, were systematically optimized. Complete separation of all target analytes and the matrix was achieved with a DB-XLB column in the first dimension and a BPX-70 column in the second dimension. The isotope dilution method was used for quantification of the PCBs and PCNs by GC × GC-HRTOF-MS. The method showed good linearity from 5 to 500 pg μL⁻¹ for all the target compounds. The instrumental limit of detection ranged from 0.03 to 0.3 pg μL⁻¹ for the 18 PCB congeners and from 0.09 to 0.6 pg μL⁻¹ for the 16 PCN congeners. Repeatability for triplicate injections was always lower than 20%. The method was successfully applied to the determination of 18 PCBs present at 0.9–2054 pg g⁻¹ and 16 PCNs present at 0.2–15.7 pg g⁻¹ in three species of fish. The GC × GC-HRTOF-MS results agreed with those obtained by GC-HRMS. The GC × GC-HRTOF-MS method proved to be a sensitive and accurate technique for simultaneous analysis of the selected PCBs and PCNs. With the excellent chromatographic separation offered by GC × GC and accurate mass measurements offered by HRTOF-MS, this method allowed identification of non-target contaminants in the fish samples, including organochlorine pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Comprehensive gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry for the separation of pesticides in a very complex matrix

The present research is focused on the development of a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–rapid scanning quadrupole mass spectrometric (GC x GC-qMS) methodology for the analysis of trace-amount pesticides contained in a complex real-world sample. Reliable peak assignment was carried out by using a recently developed, dedicated pesticide MS library (for comprehensive GC analysis), characterized by a twin-filter search procedure, the first based on a minimum degree of spectral similarity and the second on the interactive use of linear retention indices (LRI). The library was constructed by subjecting mixtures of commonly used pesticides to GC x GC-qMS analysis and then deriving their pure mass spectra and LRI values. In order to verify the effectiveness of the approach, a pesticide-contaminated red grapefruit extract was analysed. The certainty of peak assignment was attained by exploiting both the enhanced separation power of dual-oven GC x GC and the highly effective search procedure.     

Qualitative drug analysis of hair extracts by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A technique using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/TOFMS) is applied to a qualitative analysis of three sample extracts from hair suspected of containing various drug compounds. The samples were also subjected to a quantitative target analysis for codeine, morphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA), methadone, and benzylpiperazine (BZP) by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). GC × GC/TOFMS provided a non-specific procedure that identified various drugs, metabolites, and impurities not included in the target analysis. They included cocaine, diazepam, and methaqualone (quaalude). Comprehensive GC × GC separation was achieved using twin-stage cryo-modulation to focus eluant from a DB-5ms (5% phenyl) to a BPX50 (50% phenyl) GC column. The TOF mass spectrometer provided unit mass resolution in the mass range m/z 5–1000 and rapid spectral acquisition (≤500 spectra/s). Clean mass spectra of the individual components were obtained using mass spectral deconvolution software. The ‘unknown’ components were identified by comparison with mass spectra stored in a library database.     

全二维气相色谱-飞行时间质谱分析焦化柴油中饱和烃的分子组成

建立了全二维气相色谱-飞行时间质谱(GC×GC-TOF MS)分析柴油馏分中饱和烃的分子组成的方法。结合谱库检索、质谱图解析、沸点与分子结构关系和全二维谱图特征,定性(或归类)了焦化柴油饱和烃组分中1057个化合物单体,其中正构烷烃排列规律性最强,一环~三环环烷烃按照极性和沸点的差异呈瓦片状分布在其上方。另外,还准确区分了在一维气相色谱上共流出的正构烷基环己烷和正构烷基环戊烷,以及正构 α 单烯烃。根据质谱采集的总离子流色谱图,采用峰面积归一化法得到了饱和烃组分的碳数分布结果,并将该方法应用于研究不同类型柴油馏分饱和烃的分子组成特点。结果表明,催化裂化和焦化柴油馏分饱和烃组分的化合物类型和分布各不相同。分子组成分析能为油品加工工艺机理的研究提供方法支持。     

Analytical challenges in doping control: Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time of flight mass spectrometry,a promising option

Doping control screening based on the enhanced resolution of comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography hyphenated to time of flight mass spectrometer was investigated. The identification of anabolic agents (clenbuterol, norandrosterone, epimetendiol, two methyltestosterone metabolites and 3′-hydroxystanozolol) contained in a spiked urine sample (2 ng/ml) was demonstrated. Special emphasis was given to 3′-hydroxystanozolol, mainly considering the difficulty in its detection. In contrast to conventional GC–MS approaches that must use single-ion monitoring, the GC × GC–TOFMS method enabled the identification of that metabolite through the deconvolution of the full mass spectrum and also resolved the co-eluted peaks of 3′-hydroxystanozolol and an endogenous component.     

Metabolic profiling of infant urine using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography: Application to the diagnosis of organic acidurias and biomarker discovery

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToFMS) was applied to the analysis of urinary organic acids from patients with inborn errors of metabolism. Abnormal profiles were obtained from all five patients studied. Methylmalonic academia and deficiencies of 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase and medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase gave diagnostic profiles while deficiencies of very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA synthase gave profiles with significant increases in dicarboxylic acids suggestive of these disorders. The superior resolving power of GC × GC with ToFMS detection was useful in separating isomeric organic acids that were not resolved using one-dimensional GC. A novel urinary metabolite, crotonyl glycine, was also discovered in the mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA synthase sample which may be a useful specific diagnostic marker for this disorder. The quantitative aspects of GC × GC were investigated using stable isotope dilution analyses of glutaric, glyceric, orotic, 4-hydroxybutyric acids and 3-methylcrotonylglycine. Correlation coefficients for linear calibrations of the analytes ranged from 0.9805 to 0.9993 (R²) and analytical recoveries from 77% to 99%. This study illustrates the potential of GC × GC–ToFMS for the diagnosis of organic acidurias and detailed analysis of the complex profiles that are often associated with these disorders.     

Analysis of tensides in complex samples with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Multidimensional gas-chromatographical analysis of various tensides of natural or synthetic origin in cosmetic products is demonstrated. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry allows the qualitative and quantitative determination of alkyl polyglucosides (AG), fatty alcohol ethoxylates (FAEO), fatty alcohol sulfates (FAS), fatty alcohol ether sulfates (FAES) and cocamidopropyl betaines (CAPB) in shower gel and cleaning agents. The samples were aliquoted in two parts. The first part was silylated, diluted and analysed; then, in order to detect anionic tensides (FAES, FAS) too, the second aliquot was hydrolysed before being silylated for analysis. Because of their amphoteric character, the betaines can only be analysed by gas chromatography after thermal decomposition in the injector, which leads to the corresponding amidoamines among other products.     

Analysis of organic compounds of water-in-crude oil emulsions separated by microwave heating using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

In this work the higher peak capacity and resolution of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) has been successfully applied, for the first time, to tentatively identify several polar organic compounds of organic extracts of aqueous phases resulting from microwave demulsification process of water-in-crude oil emulsions. Results have shown that higher temperatures and longer exposure time to microwave irradiation produced water phases with a wider variety of polar organic compounds. The microwave process showed to be suitable for the extraction of several polar compounds classes of petroleum. The proposed microwave extraction method and GCxGC identification of polar compounds of petroleum samples are of practical interest for the petrochemical industry due to corrosion and related problems associated with these polar compounds in refinery equipments. The GCxGC/time-of-flight MS technique shows to be very important in the total separation of different classes of compounds and allows the identification of many compounds in these classes.     

Informatics for cross-sample analysis with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (GCxGC-HRMS)

This paper describes informatics for cross-sample analysis with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). GCxGC-HRMS analysis produces large data sets that are rich with information, but highly complex. The size of the data and volume of information requires automated processing for comprehensive cross-sample analysis, but the complexity poses a challenge for developing robust methods. The approach developed here analyzes GCxGC-HRMS data from multiple samples to extract a feature template that comprehensively captures the pattern of peaks detected in the retention-times plane. Then, for each sample chromatogram, the template is geometrically transformed to align with the detected peak pattern and generate a set of feature measurements for cross-sample analyses such as sample classification and biomarker discovery. The approach avoids the intractable problem of comprehensive peak matching by using a few reliable peaks for alignment and peak-based retention-plane windows to define comprehensive features that can be reliably matched for cross-sample analysis. The informatics are demonstrated with a set of 18 samples from breast-cancer tumors, each from different individuals, six each for Grades 1-3. The features allow classification that matches grading by a cancer pathologist with 78% success in leave-one-out cross-validation experiments. The HRMS signatures of the features of interest can be examined for determining elemental compositions and identifying compounds.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography improves separation and identification of anabolic agents in doping control

The application of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS) for the analysis of six anabolic agents (AAs) in doping control is investigated in this work. A non-polar–polar column configuration with 0.2 μm film thickness (d_f) second dimension (²D) column was employed, offering much better spread of the components on ²D when compared to the alternative 0.1 μm d_f²D column. The proposed method was tested on the “key” AA that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had listed at the low ng mL⁻¹ levels (clenbuterol, 19-norandrosterone, epimethendiol, 17α-methyl-5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol, 17α-methyl-5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol and 3′-OH-stanozolol). The compounds were spiked in a blank urine extract obtained by solid-phase extraction, hydrolysis and liquid–liquid extraction; prior to analysis they were converted to the corresponding trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. The limit of detection (LOD) was below or equal to the minimum required performance limit (MRPL) of 2 ng mL⁻¹ defined by WADA, and the correlation coefficient was in the range from 0.995 to 0.999. The method allows choosing an ion from the full mass spectra which shows the least interference from the matrix and/or the best sensitivity; this can only be done if full scan mass spectral data are available. The advantage of GC × GC over classical one-dimensional GC (1D GC), in terms of separation efficiency and sensitivity, is demonstrated on a positive urine control sample at a concentration of 5 ng mL⁻¹. The obtained similarity to the in-house created TOFMS spectra library at this level of concentration was in the range from 822 to 932 (on the scale from 0 to 999). Since full mass spectral information are recorded, the method allows the retro-search of non-target compounds or new “designer steroids”, which cannot be detected with established GC–MS methods that use selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode.     

Comparison of different amino acid derivatives and analysis of rat brain microdialysates by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

The efficiencies of three derivatisation reagents that react with either the amine (9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC)) or the carboxylic acid group (butanol) of amino acid or with both types of functional groups (propyl chloroformate) were compared in the analysis of amino acids by liquid chromatography-electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Separation of 20 amino acids derivatised with these three reagents was studied on reversed-phase chromatography. Linearity, repeatability and limits of detection of the LC-ESI-MS/MS method were determined by analysing FMOC-, butanol- and propyl chloroformate-derivatised lysine, β-aminobutyric acid, threonine and glutamic acid. The limits of detection for the derivatised amino acids (7.5-75 fmol) were as much as 2-60 times lower than those of the corresponding underivatised molecules. The best linearity was observed for amino acids derivatised with propyl chloroformate or butanol (r² = 0.996-0.999, range = 100-8500 nmol L⁻¹). Propyl chloroformate was the best suited of the reagents tested for the analysis of amino acids with LC-MS/MS and was used for the analysis of amino acids in rat brain microdialysis samples.     

A method of calculating the second dimension retention index in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A method was developed to calculate the second dimension retention index of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC/TOF-MS) data using n-alkanes as reference compounds. The retention times of the C(7)-C(31) alkanes acquired during 24 isothermal experiments cover the 0-6s retention time area in the second dimension retention time space, which makes it possible to calculate the retention indices of target compounds from the corresponding retention time values without the extension of the retention space of the reference compounds. An empirical function was proposed to show the relationship among the second dimension retention time, the temperature of the second dimension column, and the carbon number of the n-alkanes. The proposed function is able to extend the second dimension retention time beyond the reference n-alkanes by increasing the carbon number. The extension of carbon numbers in reference n-alkanes up to two more carbon atoms introduces <10 retention index units (iu) of deviation. The effectiveness of using the proposed method was demonstrated by analyzing a mixture of compound standards in temperature programmed experiments using 6 different initial column temperatures. The standard deviation of the calculated retention index values of the compound standards fluctuated from 1 to 12 iu with a mean standard deviation of 5 iu.