Analytical Instrument Documents

Methamphetamine is a Schedule II Controlled Substance that is illegally manufactured in clandestine labs. There are several common synthetic pathways in use. For this study, methamphetamine was synthesized from phenyl-2-propanone by the (1) Leukart synthesis or (2) Reductive Amination, or from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine by the (3) Nagai, (4) Birch, and (5) Edme syntheses. Each of these reaction sequences resulted in unique impurity profiles1-3 that can be used by law enforcement to track the activities of clan labs, distribution networks, and trafficking patterns. The AccuTOF-DART was used to examine the starting materials, reaction mixtures, and final products from each reaction scheme.

DART provides a convenient means for monitoring the progress of chemical reactions. Reactants, intermediates, products and byproducts can be detected by simply dipping a glass rod into the reaction pot and then placing the rod in front of the DART ion source. The AccuTOF's ability to measure accurate masses and isotopic abundances makes it possible to confirm or identify the elemental compositions of peaks in the mass spectra. Here we show the use of AccuTOF-DART to monitor the acetylation of 1,2-hexanediol as a function of time.

Fingerprints contain a great deal of chemical information that is not often exploited for forensic analysis. DART can detect and identify the chemical components of fingerprints, often providing information about what substances a subject has been handling.

Strobilurins, systemic pesticides originated from natural fungicidal derivatives, play an important role in control of various plant pathogens. Because of their unique protective properties, significant yield enhancements and longer retention of green leaf tissue, strobilurins have been widely used in agriculture since their introduction on the market in 1992. As other pesticides, these compounds are involved in control and monitoring surveys undertaken by regulation authorities.

DART can ionize organic substance on solid surface in atmospheric pressure. By utilizing this feature, we analyzed organic contaminant adhered to a metal part.

DART can characterize additives in lubricating oils directly without sample preparation. The additives generally produce a strong signal without interference from the base oil. However, complementary information about nonpolar components of the base oil can be obtained by O2 ─• attachment chemical ionization, a simple analysis that can be easily and rapidly carried out with changing any hardware on the AccuTOF-DART mass spectrometer system.

In MS Tips No. D031 we introduced the example of high polar compound analysis with DART. This application note introduces the example of the analysis of low polar compounds.

Ionic liquids have drawn much attention from various engineering fields, such as tribology, because of their unique properties of electrical conductivity, extremely low vapor pressure, low viscosity, low combustibility, etc. The sample was analyzed by dipping a glass rod to the sample and presented it directly to the DART™ ion source.

The identification of pressure-sensitive tapes such as duct tape and electrical tape is an important forensic application. Here we show the application of thermal desorption and pyrolysis combined with Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) mass spectrometry to distinguish between manufacturers and brands of duct tapes. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) provides complementary information about the atomic composition of the different tapes.

The AccuTOF-LC time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with a DART ion source and AutoDart HTC PAL autosampler, was used for examination of beer in this study. Donprep® immunoaffinity columns (R-Biopharm) was employed for selective isolation of target analyte from the sample. Briefly, 10 mL of beer with added internal standard (¹³C₁₅-deoxynivalenol, 500 ng/ml) were passed through the cartridge, which was then washed with 5 mL of water. Deoxynivalenol was subsequently eluted with 4.5 mL of methanol. Calibration standards containing deoxynivalenol in the range from 100 to 1500 ng/mL and fixed amount of internal standard (500 ng/mL) were prepared for quantification.