April 12th 2024
Here are the top five articles that the editors of Spectroscopy published this week.
More Than Just Acronyms at EAS 2023
November 14th 2023Award recipient John McLean of Vanderbilt University said hybrid techniques do not exist purely as combinations of letters, slashes, and hyphens—they have been built on the shoulders of decades’ worth of analysis intended to refine and simplify workflow.
John McLean Receives 2023 EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Mass Spectrometry
November 14th 2023John A. McLean, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Associate Provost for Graduate Education, and Director of the Center for Innovative Technologies at Vanderbilt University, has been named the winner of the 2023 EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Mass Spectrometry.
TARIM Calcite: A New Benchmark for Laser ICP-MS In Situ Calcite U–Pb Dating
November 13th 2023A type of calcite whose name comes from a resource-rich basin in northwest China was earmarked as a promising reference material for laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in situ U–Pb dating.
An Interview with 2023 Strock Award Recipient Maria Montes-Bayón
September 20th 2023Earlier this year, Spectroscopy spoke to Maria Montes-Bayón of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Oviedo (Asturias, Spain) regarding her work with single cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to study the uptake and apoptotic status of nanoplatinum (IV) treated cells, specifically selenized yeast.
Polaritons and What They Can Do: Talking With 2023 Coblentz Award Winner Wei Xiong
August 16th 2023This year’s recipient of the Coblentz Award, Wei Xiong of the University of California, San Diego, is being honored for his work. Spectroscopy spoke to Xiong about his work and his feelings about receiving this award.
The 2023 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award
January 1st 2023Andreas Riedo of the Physics Institute at the University of Bern, the 2023 winner of the Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award, is using laser ablation–desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LIMS) to chemically analyze complex mineral surfaces found in space exploration.
Spectrometers in Wonderland: Shrinking, Shrinking, Shrinking
November 1st 2022In the past 20 years, spectrometers have shrunk dramatically in size, and this shrinking has been achieved with only modest performance reductions in sampling versatility, spectral range, spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise.
Determining Chromium, Iron, and Nickel in a Nickel-Based Alloy by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
February 1st 2022Accurate determination of the elemental composition of nickel-based alloys is essential, given their use in high-performance equipment. This XRF technique enables rapid and nondestructive detection, as an alternative to existing approaches.
Impact of Measurement Protocol on ICP-MS Data Quality Objectives: Part I
October 1st 2021The way the analytical signal is managed in ICP-MS has a direct impact on the results generated. In this first of a two-part series, we explain the fundamental principles of a scanning quadrupole and how measurement protocols can be optimized based on data quality objectives.
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with cold electron ionization (EI) is based on interfacing the GC and MS instruments with supersonic molecular beams (SMB) along with electron ionization of vibrationally cold sample compounds in SMB in a fly-through ion source (hence the name cold EI). GC–MS with cold EI improves all the central performance aspects of GC–MS. These aspects include enhanced molecular ions, improved sample identification, an extended range of compounds amenable for analysis, uniform response to all analytes, faster analysis, greater selectivity, and lower detection limits. In GC–MS with cold EI, the GC elution temperatures can be significantly lowered by reducing the column length and increasing the carrier gas flow rate. Furthermore, the injector temperature can be reduced using a high column flow rate, and sample degradation at the cold EI fly-through ion source is eliminated. Thus, a greater range of thermally labile and low volatility compounds can be analyzed. The extension of the range of compounds and applications amenable for analysis is the most important benefit of cold EI that bridges the gap with LC–MS. Several examples of GC–MS with cold EI applications are discussed including cannabinoids analysis, synthetic organic compounds analysis, and lipids in blood analysis for medical diagnostics.
Monitoring for Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl (PFAS) with Advanced Mass Spectrometry– Based Methods
November 9th 2020Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of potentially thousands of synthetic compounds that have long been used in the manufacture of a variety of common products with stain-repellent and nonstick properties. Their signature strong fluorine and carbon bonds make them difficult to break down and, as a result, they are among the most persistent of today’s environmental pollutants. Alarmingly, PFAS can be found in drinking water and have been shown to accumulate in the body with the potential to cause multiple health problems, such as hormone disruption and cancer. Advances in mass spectrometry have facilitated the detection of known PFAS contaminants as well as the identification of poorly studied and novel compounds in watersheds. This article explores the detection of known and novel PFAS contaminants in aqueous film-forming foams and raw drinking water sources in North Carolina, using new advances in mass spectrometry and data acquisition to improve identification and quantitation.
High-Throughput Profiling of Long Chain Fatty Acids and Oxylipins by LC–MS
November 6th 2020Long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) function as a source of metabolic energy, substrates for membrane biogenesis, and storage of metabolic energy. Oxylipins, oxygenated derivatives of LCFAs, regulate the activity of many cellular processes. Existing methods for the analysis of LCFAs and oxylipins have limited compound coverage and sensitivity that, therefore, prevent their application in biological studies. In this work, we developed a high-throughput LC–MS method for analysis of 51 LCFAs and oxylipins. LCFAs and oxylipins were first extracted from biological samples via solid-phase extraction. The extracted molecules were analyzed by targeted comparative metabolomics. Saturated and monounsaturated LCFAs were analyzed in single ion reaction mode, while polyunsaturated LCFAs and oxylipins were analyzed in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Using this method, we successfully quantified 31 LCFAs and oxylipins from mouse livers.