| Abstract: | Of the several approaches used to interface liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry, the thermospray interface has evolved as the most popular and applicable for the analysis of polar and labile organic compounds. Since a separate ion source must be used for thermospray, separate tuning and calibration are required. Unfortunately, current approaches to tuning and calibration suffer from serious shortcomings, most notably rapid contamination of the ion source. Recent reports have shown that this shortcoming can be overcome by using acetic acid-ammonia cluster ions or trifluoroacetic acid–ammonia cluster ions for tuning and calibration. In the latter approach, the tuning solution could also be used in the negative ion mode of operation but suffers from concentration of most of the ion current in one ion. The use of perfluorinated alkyl acids and their ammonium salts to generate intense high-mass negative ions for tuning and calibration to m/z 2000 is reported. Additionally, the ammonium salts of the longer chain perfluorinated acids offer an enhanced high-mass response in the positive ion mode of operation. |
