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Supersonic molecular beam‐hyperthermal surface ionisation coupled with time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry applied to trace level detection of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in drinking water for reduced sample preparation and analysis time
Author(s) -
Davis Stephen C.,
Makarov Alexander A.,
Hughes Jonathan D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0231(19990228)13:4<247::aid-rcm448>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , time of flight mass spectrometry , ionization , chemical ionization , instrumentation (computer programming) , extraction (chemistry) , ion , organic chemistry , computer science , operating system
Analysis of sub‐ppb levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in drinking water by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fluorescence detection typically requires large water samples and lengthy extraction procedures. The detection itself, although selective, does not give compound identity confirmation. Benchtop gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems operating in the more sensitive selected ion monitoring (SIM) acquisition mode discard spectral information and, when operating in scanning mode, are less sensitive and scan too slowly. The selectivity of hyperthermal surface ionisation (HSI), the high column flow rate capacity of the supersonic molecular beam (SMB) GC/MS interface, and the high acquisition rate of time‐of‐flight (TOF) mass analysis, are combined here to facilitate a rapid, specific and sensitive technique for the analysis of trace levels of PAHs in water. This work reports the advantages gained by using the GC/HSI‐TOF system over the HPLC fluorescence method, and discusses in some detail the nature of the instrumentation used. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.