Analytical Instrument Documents

The comprehensive 2-dimensional GC (GC x GC) technique provides higher-separation capabilities for complex mixtures than the typical 1-dimensional GC measurements. However, the GC x GC technique requires high speed data acquisition, e. g. > 20 Hz, for the GC detectors due to the shorter 2nd GC column which elutes samples within just a few seconds (comparable to those used for the ultra-fast GC measurements). Recently, JEOL has developed a new generation GC-HRTOFMS system called the “AccuTOF GCv 4G”. The AccuTOF GCv 4G has high sensitivity, high resolution, high mass accuracy and high speed data acquisition, all simultaneously. In fact, this instrument can measure data using up to a 50 Hz data acquisition speed which is more than sufficient to do not only fast GC measurements but also GC x GC measurements.

Field Desorption (FD) and Field Ionization (FI) are both techniques that ionize analytes by electron tunneling from the analyte molecules to a solid surface (emitter) in a high electric field. In the case of FD, the sample is applied directly onto the emitter and heated by applying an electric current through the emitter for desorption and ionization. In the case of FI, vaporized analyte molecules are introduced into the proximity of the emitter. Both FI and FD are soft ionization methods that generally yield intact molecular ions and, in most cases, produce very few fragment ions. Generally, these two techniques are used to ionize analytes that are easy to fragment and do not generally produce molecular ions during electron ionization (EI), such as hydrocarbons in crude oil.

Field Desorption (FD) and Field Ionization (FI) are both techniques that ionize analytes by electron tunneling from the analyte molecules to a solid surface (emitter) in a high electric field. In the case of FD, the sample is applied directly onto the emitter and heated by applying an electric current through the emitter for desorption and ionization. In the case of FI, vaporized analyte molecules are introduced into the proximity of the emitter. Both FI and FD are soft ionization methods that generally yield intact molecular ions and, in most cases, produce very few fragment ions. Generally, these two techniques are used to ionize analytes that are easy to fragment and do not generally produce molecular ions during electron ionization (EI), such as hydrocarbons in crude oil.

Comprehensive 2-dimensional GC (GC x GC) provides higher-separation capabilities for complex mixtures than the typical 1-dimensional GC measurements. However, this technique requires high speed data acquisition, e. g. > 20 Hz, for the GC detectors due to the shorter 2nd GC column (comparable to those used for the ultra-fast GC measurements) which elutes samples within just a few seconds. Recently, JEOL has developed a new generation GC-HRTOFMS system called the “AccuTOF GCv 4G”. The AccuTOF GCv 4G has high sensitivity, high resolution, high mass accuracy and high speed data acquisition, all simultaneously. Also JEOL has developed a unique EI/FI combination ion source for this system which provides the capabilities of GC/EI and GC/FI measurements without having to break vacuum in order to switch between each ionization mode. Additionally, this combination is particularly powerful in that it provides library searchable fragmentation information by using EI and high mass accuracy molecular ion information by using FI.

Structural elucidation of hydrocarbon classes in petroleum products are always in high demand. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS) with electron ionization (EI) is a powerful method for characterizing complex mixtures such as base oils. However, EI data can often lack a strong molecular ion signal. Therefore, it is necessary to measure samples with soft-ionization methods such as positive chemical ionization (PCI), field ionization (FI), or photo-ionization (PI) for the detection of molecular ions. Each technique is a little different so it is important to understand the characteristics of each soft ionization method. In this application note, we compare the mass spectra of a base oil analyzed by GCxGC-TOFMS with EI, PCI, FI, and PI.

The high boiling point compounds cholesterol and Irganox® 1010, an anti-oxidant additive for polymers, were analyzed by GC/MS. The analyses were performed using electron ionization (EI) and field ionization (FI), which is a soft ionization method, to show the difference in mass spectral patterns that result from these two ionization techniques.

A gas-chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS) is a combined analyzer that has superior ability in analyzing organic compounds qualitatively and quantitatively. The first part, gas chromatograph, separates the compounds included in a sample (mixture), then the second part, mass spectrometer, obtains mass spectra of the compounds to carry out qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis can be carried out as well from the peak area of the mass chromatogram of the compound. As a mass spectrometer of a GC-MS system, several types of mass spectrometers are on the market, such as magnetic field, quadrupole (QMS), ion trap (ITD), and time-of-flight (TOF). Each mass spectrometer has its own features and applications.

Transformer oil containing no PCBs was diluted 10,000 times, and then this solution was spiked with a mixture of commercially available PCBs (KC-500). The resulting sample was analyzed by using the JEOL AccuTOF-GC with FastGC/MS conditions. Afterwards, the data was examined by varying the mass range window (called "window width") used for the PCB reconstructed ion chromatogram (RIC) to determine if the effect of the background impurities can be eliminated so that the analyte peaks are easily observed in the resulting data.

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) in combination with high-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for the analysis of complex mixtures. In this work, we analyzed a diesel fuel sample by using GC x GC in combination with a new high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (HR-TOFMS) . Field ionization (FI) produced molecular ions for all components and exact mass measurements were used to obtain elemental compositions. A traditional Kendrick Mass Defect (KMD) plot was used to identify hydrocarbon groups in the diesel fuel sample.

Triazolam is a benzodiazepine with a very short elimination half-life. The range is reported to be 1.5 to 5.5 hours. Due to its frequent use as a sedative and its potential to affect human activities such as driving, an unambiguous and sensitive analysis method is needed for its identification and quantitation. Generally, for determination of triazolam, screen tests are performed in biological samples followed by confirmation and quantitation with GC/MS. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility by using the JEOL AccuTOF™ GC, time-of-flight mass spectrometer with accurate mass measurement and negative ion chemical ionization (NCI) capabilities for triazolam determination. D4-triazolam was used as internal standard. The mass accuracy without internal reference is smaller than 2 mmu. The limit of detection is 5 ng/mL. The quantitation standard curve can be linear from 5 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL with R2 of 0.9992. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that triazolam has been detected by GC/time-of-flight mass spectrometry with accurate mass measurement.