Ion mobility spectrometry as flow-injection detector and continuous flow monitor for aniline in hexane and water

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) was used as a flow-injection detector to quantitatively examine the ionization chemistry of aniline in hexane. A 5-microl sample was vaporized at 15-90-sec intervals in a flowing air stream and analyzed with an IMS equipped with acetone reactant ion chemistry, ambient temperature drift tube and membrane-based inlet. Precision was 3-11% relative standard deviation for 1-100 ppm aniline in hexane with 90-sec injection intervals and detection limits were ca. 0.5 ppm with 5-microl injections. Matrix effects with amine and organic solvent mixtures were observed and corrected for low and medium proton affinity interferences with standard addition methods. Pronounced fouling of the IMS occurred when a continuous water flow was introduced for aqueous flow injection-IMS. Continuous water monitoring without degraded IMS performance was possible by sampling air flow through a Silastic tube immersed in an aqueous sample.