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The history of mass spectrometry and the search for zero
Author(s) -
Bey J. H.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
biomedical mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 0306-042X
DOI - 10.1002/bms.1200080906
Subject(s) - mass spectrometry , ion , fragmentation (computing) , ionization , spectrometer , chemistry , kinetic energy , mass spectrum , analytical chemistry (journal) , physics , chromatography , computer science , optics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , operating system
In its early days, mass spectrometry was the exclusive province of the physicist; it was physicists who conceived of the possibility of weighing charged atoms and groups of atoms and they who developed instruments of high resolution and sensitivity in the first quarter of this century. The subject has now largely been taken over by chemists who have, amongst other things, exploited the specificity of the mass spectrometer for identifying complex organic compounds and its ability to pick out for special study particular ion species which may only be present in small amounts in a complex mixture. As a result of the developments they have introduced over many years, the mass spectrometer has now become perhaps the most versatile of all the analytical techniques available to us. It can be coupled with separation techniques such as chromatography; it can handle solids and liquids as well as gases; it can be used with various ionization techniques to highlight particular properties of the sample; it can produce positive or negative ions as well as ions carrying more than one charge; it can separate the ions according to their masses, momenta or kinetic energies; it can study specific properties of separated ions such as their unimolecular fragmentation behaviour or specific reactions induced by collision with neutral gases or with a laser beam; it can be computer controlled. Although I do not want to suggest that the mass spectrometer replaces the other analytical instrumental techniques (because they give information that is largely complementary to mass spectrometry) it is true to say that the modern mass spectrometer is in many ways a complete chemical ‘laboratory’. The ion source provides a preliminary ‘separation’ of a mixture, emphasizing the component of interest and the mass separation stage completes this ‘purification’. The isolated ion species can then be identified on the basis of its characteristic reactions, just as in conventional chemistry. The method is continously being improved both as regards its selectivity and sensitivity, though the ultimate sensitivity does depend heavily on the type of sample being studied. The developments are by no means completed and we can look forward to still further steps forward in the future.