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Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses of small molecules using electrospray and fast‐atom bombardment ionization
Author(s) -
Reiser Robert W.,
Fogiel Arthur J.
Publication year - 1994
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/rcm.1290080306
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , electrospray ionization , ionization , fast atom bombardment , direct electron ionization liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry interface , chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , electrospray , ion source , capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry , ambient ionization , molecule , extractive electrospray ionization , chemical ionization , ion , sample preparation in mass spectrometry , organic chemistry
Electrospray ionization and fast‐atom bombardment (FAB) are both soft ionization techniques which typically give prominent molecular ions of thermally labile and highly polar molecules. These two complementary techniques were compared on the same magnetic sector mass spectrometer, a Finnigan MAT 900. Comparisons were made of sensitivity, versatility, ease of use, and most importantly for our work, structure elucidation of unknowns arising from research with agricultural chemicals. Both known standards and ‘real world’ unknowns were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) with both interfaces. The same reversed‐phase micro‐LC system was used with both ionization techniques, using 0.32 mm i.d. packed capillary LC columns at flow rates of 1–2 μL/min. Improved performance in the continuous‐flow FAB mode was obtained by use of a screen target. The advantages, disadvantages and similarities of these two ionization techniques are discussed.