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Accurate mass measurement for the determination of elemental formula—A tutorial
Author(s) -
Bristow Anthony W.T.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
mass spectrometry reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1098-2787
pISSN - 0277-7037
DOI - 10.1002/mas.20058
Subject(s) - instrumentation (computer programming) , mass spectrometry , chemistry , elemental analysis , pace , the renaissance , analytical chemistry (journal) , process engineering , nanotechnology , computer science , environmental chemistry , chromatography , engineering , physics , art , organic chemistry , astronomy , art history , operating system , materials science
The application of accurate mass measurement for the determination of elemental formula has its origin in the 1950s and for many years was only carried out using magnetic sector mass spectrometers. The availability of such measurements was limited due to the cost and complexity of the instrumentation and the need for considerable expertise to acquire and interpret the spectra. In recent years the incredible pace of instrumental development has changed this, particularly with the renaissance of time of flight mass spectrometry. This has resulted in instrumentation capable of making accurate mass measurements in a robust fashion becoming available to most practitioners of (mass spectrometry) MS, without some of the earlier technical challenges and at lower cost. In this review the variety of accurate mass measurement instrumentation and techniques and their relative capabilities are discussed, along with a range of applications requiring the determination of elemental formula. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.