Issue:
COLUMNS
MS Forum
A Grave Matter
Ken Busch
The standardized definition of mass is always of fundamental interest to mass spectrometrists.
Molecular Spectroscopy Workbench
Raman Spectroscopy of Oil Shale
David Tuschel
Here, we discuss the use of Raman spectroscopy to characterize oil shale, particularly black shale, which consists of kerogen (fossilized organic matter) trapped in sedimentary rock consisting of clays, calcites, silicates, and titanium dioxides among other inorganic minerals. We show that Raman spectroscopy is useful for characterizing the varieties of kerogen structure (chemical bonding and solid state), differentiating shales with different relative amounts of kerogen to inorganic mineral, and differentiating polymorphs of naturally occurring inorganic oxides.
Atomic Perspectives
William Henry Fox Talbot and the Foundations of Spectrochemical Analysis
Volker Thomsen
Talbot is one of the early researchers into the field of spectral analysis. Between 1826 and 1836 he made several significant contributions and deserves recognition as one of the founders of modern spectrochemical analysis.
ARTICLES
2013 Salary Survey
Bethany Degg
Analysis of Spectroscopy’s annual reader survey on salary, workload, and job satisfaction.
Industry Forecast
Lawrence Schmid
Annual outlook on how the core spectroscopy techniques (molecular, atomic, and mass spectrometry) will fare in 2013 based on the results from last year’s data and projected forecast.
Mass Spectrometry: The Premier Analytical Tool for DMPK Scientists in a Drug Discovery Environment
Walter Korfmacher
This article focuses on current applications of various types of MS systems to new drug discovery efforts. |
New! Application Note Section - Ask your sales representative for more information
GC x GC–TOF MS Complements Passive Sampling for the Screening of Pollutants in Water
Anthony Gravell1, Praveen Kutty1, Graham Mills2, David Barden3 and Steve Smith3
1 Environment Agency Wales, Llanelli Laboratory; 2 School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, and 3 ALMSCO International
This article shows that GC x GC–TOF MS is a valuable analytical method for use with passive sampling techniques for the detection of pollutants in water. We show that it is possible to separate components that would co-elute in one-dimensional (1D) GC, resulting in improved confidence in identification of pollutants. The combination of passive sampling alongside TOF MS ensures high sensitivity, while the information-rich datasets mean that the method can be applied to the detection of non-targeted compounds with little additional effort.
DESI and DART Analysis of Swabs Used for Explosives Detection
Cécile Hubert1, Xavier Machuron-Mandard1, and Jean-Claude Tabet2
1CEA, DAM, DIF, and 2Institut Parisien de Chimie Moléculaire (Chimie Structurale Organique et Biologique), Université Pierre et Marie Curie
This article describes the capabilities of DART and DESI sources for the analysis of contaminated fabrics. The effect of key parameters including the source conditions, the mesh size of different fabrics and the use of additives to enhance detection limits is investigated and the suitability of both sources is discussed. The successful analysis of real cotton fabric samples illustrates the efficiency of ambient ionization mass spectrometry, which tends to change the instrumental arsenal of the expert laboratories.
Targeted Protein Quantification Using High-Throughput Capillary LC–MS
Reiko Kiyonami and Laurent Rieux, Thermo Fisher Scientific
The verification and validation processes of large batches of complex samples require a sensitive and robust high-throughput method for the quantification of low-abundance peptides and proteins in biological matrices. To that end, a LC–MS method was developed using capillary flow-rate ultra-high-performance LC coupled to a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The combined use of 300-µm i.d. columns and a conventional ESI probe allowed the easy use of flow rates between 1 and 10 µL/min and LODs at 10 amol level in complex matrices with great robustness and repeatability. Run times could be kept in every case to less than 30 min.
Rapid and Direct Quantitation of Pharmaceutical Drugs From Urine Using MALDI MS
Ajeet Singh, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Avinash Ghanate, and Venkateswarlu Panchagnula, Chemical Engineering, National Chemical Laboratory
The quantitative estimation of drugs from biofluids in pharmacokinetic studies requires high throughput bioanalytical methods. We report a rapid, simple, and efficient method for simultaneous quantitative and determination of different pharmaceutical drugs directly from urine samples. Acetamiophen, griesofluvin, ampicillin, and verapamil spiked in human urine were characterized directly by MALDI TOF-MS followed by tandem MS to confirm their identities. Furthermore, quantitative profiling of drugs was carried out directly from spiked urine samples using MALDI TOF-MS without any chromatographic separation. Linearity was observed for the relevant concentration ranges of the metabolites found in urine. The quantitative analysis successfully produced acceptable precision and high accuracy of recoveries of drugs.
High Resolution Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for Rapid Petroleum Characterization
Kevin Siek, Joe Binkley, and Jeffrey S. Patrick, Leco Corporation
High-resolution time-of-flight (HRT) mass spectrometry was investigated as an alternative to Fourier transformation mass spectrometry (FT-MS) for the direct analysis of heteroatomic species in crude petroleum. The practical implications of this technique’s advantages and drawbacks were explored. The favorable resolution profile observed for HRT versus FT-MS instruments yields enhanced spectral peak capacity at higher m/z, allowing more extensive characterization of heavy components within crude petroleum. The principal limitation of the HRT in this application is the limited m/z range in the ultra-high resolution operating mode. This compels the operator to select a particular m/z range, or to perform multiple experiments and concatenate the data.
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March 2013 Issue & Mass Spec Supplement
