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Molecular structure of fulvic acids by electrospray with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Plancque Gabriel,
Amekraz Badia,
Moulin Valérie,
Toulhoat Pierre,
Moulin Christophe
Publication year - 2001
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.307
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , electrospray , mass spectrum , quadrupole time of flight , analytical chemistry (journal) , electrospray ionization , tandem mass spectrometry , quadrupole , mass , quadrupole mass analyzer , electrospray mass spectrometry , elemental analysis , protein mass spectrometry , ion , time of flight mass spectrometry , chromatography , ionization , organic chemistry , atomic physics , physics
Characterisation of the molecular structure of aquatic fulvic acids (FA) has been performed using a quadrupole time‐of‐flight (Q‐TOF) mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionisation interface. Molecular masses centred around 450 Da and sinusoidal spectral distributions have been obtained for all fulvic acids. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments showed losses of 18 Da (H 2 O) and 44 Da (CO 2 ), and possible molecular structures were determined for the first time to our knowledge. A methodology is reported for evaluating the average elemental composition of FA from high‐resolution mass spectra by processing post‐acquisition data calculations using molecular size distributions and atomic compositions of ions. The results are found to be consistent with elemental analysis data. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.