Martin Sabo

Corona Discharge Ion Mobility Spectrometry with Orthogonal Acceleration Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for Monitoring of Volatile Organic Compounds

We demonstrate the application of corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry with orthogonal acceleration time of flight mass spectrometry (CD IMS-oaTOF) for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) monitoring. Two-dimensional (2D) IMS-oaTOF spectra of VOCs were recorded in nearly real time. The corona discharge atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source was operated in positive mode in nitrogen and air. The CD ion source generates in air H(3)O(+)(H(2)O)(n) and NO(+). The NO(+) offers additional possibility for selective ionization and for an increase of the sensitivity of monoaromatic compounds. In addition to H(3)O(+)(H(2)O)(n) and NO(+), we have carried out ionization of VOCs using acetone as dopant gas ((CH(3))(2)COH(+)). Sixteen model VOCs (tetrahydrofuran, butanol, n-propanol, iso-propano, acetone, methanol, ethanol, toluene, benzene, amomnia, dioxan, triethylamine, acetonitrile, formaldehyde, m-xylene, 2,2,2-trifluoroethylamine) were tested using these ionization techniques.

Specific O2− generation in corona discharge for ion mobility spectrometry

This study deals with O(2)(-) generation in corona discharge (CD) in point to plane geometry for single flow ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) with gas outlet located behind the ionization source. We have designed CD of special geometry in order to achieve the high O(2)(-) yield. Using this ion source we have achieved in zero air conditions that up to 74% all negative ions were O(2)(-) or O(2)(-)(H(2)O). It has been demonstrated that the non-electronegative nitrogen positively influences the efficiency of O(2)(-) generation in O(2)/N(2) mixtures. The reduced ion mobility of 2.27 cm(2)V(-1)s(-1) has been measured for O(2)(-)/O(2)(-)(H(2)O) ions in zero air. Additional ions detected in zero air (less than 200 ppb CO(2)) using the mass spectrometric and IMS technique were, NO(2)(-), N(2)O(2)(-) (2.37 cm(2)V(-1)s(-1)), NO(3)(-), N(2)O(3)(-) and N(2)O(3)(-)(H(2)O). The CO(3)(-) and CO(4)(-) ions have been detected after the introduction of 5 ppm CO(2) into zero air.

Ion Mobility Spectrometry for Monitoring High-Purity Oxygen

The ability of the ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) technique with a negative corona discharge (CD) ion source to detect trace amounts of impurities in high-purity O(2) has been explored. The processes of the formation of negative ions in negative CD IMS have been studied using the ion mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry (IMS/MS) technique. The CD IMS and CD IMS/MS spectra of 5.0 and 6.0 oxygen with and without additional purification (CO(2) and H(2)O removal) have been measured. It has been proven that the trace amounts of N(2) in high-purity O(2) can be monitored using the CD IMS and/or CD IMS/MS technique.

Corona Discharge Ion Mobility Spectrometry of Ten Alcohols

Ion mobility spectra for ten alcohols have been studied in an ion mobility spectrometry apparatus equipped with a corona discharge ionization source. Using protonated water cluster ions as the reactant ions and clean air as the drift gas, the alcohols exhibit different product ion characteristic peaks in their ion mobility spectra. The detection limit for these alcohols is at low concentration pmol/L level according to the concentration calibration by exponential dilution method. Based on the measured ion mobilities, several chemical physics parameters of the ion-molecular interaction at atmosphere were obtained, including the ionic collision cross sections, diffusion coefficients, collision rate constants, and the ionic radii under the hard-sphere model approximation.

Using corona discharge-ion mobility spectrometry for detection of 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole

In this work possible application of the corona discharge-ion mobility spectrometer (CD-IMS) for detection of 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) has been investigated. We applied CD-IMS interfaced with orthogonal acceleration time of flight mass spectrometer (CD-IMS-oaTOF) to study the ion processes within the CD-IMS technique. The CD-IMS instrument was operated in two modes, (i) standard and (ii) reverse flow modes resulting in different chemical ionisation schemes by NO3(-)(HNO3)n (n=0,1,2) and O2(-)(H2O)n (n=0,1,2), respectively. The O2(-)(H2O)n ionisation was associated with formation of Cl(-) and (TCA-CH3)(-) ions from TCA. The NO3(-)(HNO3)n ionisation, resulted in formation of NO3(-)(HNO3)(TCA-Cl) adduct ions. Limit of detection (LOD) for TCA was determined in gas (100 ppb) and solid phases (150 ng).

Laser desorption-ion mobility spectrometry as a useful tool for imaging of thin layer chromatography surface.

We present a novel method for coupling thin layer chromatography (TLC) with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) using laser desorption technique (LD). After separation of the compounds by TLC, the TLC surface was sampled by the LD-IMS without any further manipulation or preparation. The position of the laser was fixed and the TLC plate was moved in desired directions by the motorized micro-positioning stage. The method was successfully applied to analyze the TLC plates containing explosives (tri nitro toluene, 1,3,5-trinitro- 1,3,5-triazacyclohexane, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, 2,4-dinitro toluene and 3,4-dinitro toluene), amino acids (alanine, proline and isoleucine), nicotine and diphenylamine mixtures and detection limits for these compounds were determined. Combination of TLC with LD-IMS technique offers additional separation dimension, allowing separation of overlapping TLC analytes. The time for TLC sampling by LD-IMS was less than 80s. The scan rate for LD is adjustable so that fast and effective analysis of the mixtures is possible with the proposed method.

Direct Liquid Sampling for Corona Discharge Ion Mobility Spectrometry.

We present a new technique suitable for direct liquid sampling and analysis by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The technique is based on introduction of a droplet stream to the IMS reaction region. The technique was successfully used to detect explosives dissolved in methanol and oil as well as to analyze amino acids and dipeptides. One of the main advantages of this technique is its ability to analyze liquid samples without the requirement of any special solution.

Quantitative aspects of microchip isotachophoresis for high precision determination of main components in pharmaceuticals

Although microchip electrophoresis (MCE) is intended to provide reliable quantitative data, so far there is only limited attention paid to these important aspects. This study gives a general overview of key aspects to be followed to reach high-precise determination using isotachophoresis (ITP) on the microchip with conductivity detection. From the application point of view, the procedure for the determination of acetate, a main component in the pharmaceutical preparation buserelin acetate, was developed. Our results document that run-to-run fluctuations in the sample injection volume limit the reproducibility of quantitation based on the external calibration. The use of a suitable internal standard (succinate in this study) improved the repeatability of the precision of acetate determination from six to eight times. The robustness of the procedure was studied in terms of impact of fluctuations in various experimental parameters (driving current, concentration of the leading ions, pH of the leading electrolyte and buffer impurities) on the precision of the ITP determination. The use of computer simulation programs provided means to assess the ITP experiments using well-defined theoretical models. A long-term validity of the calibration curves on two microchips and two MCE equipments was verified. This favors ITP over other microchip electrophoresis techniques, when chip-to-chip or equipment-to-equipment transfer of the analytical method is required. The recovery values in the range of 98–101 % indicate very accurate determination of acetate in buserelin acetate, which is used in the treatment of hormone-dependent tumors. This study showed that microchip ITP is suitable for reliable determination of main components in pharmaceutical preparations.