Mass Spectrometry

The authors show that dynamic reaction cell ICP MS can eliminate a number of argon- and carbon-based polyatomic interferences, allowing the determination of many critical elements in problematic organic compounds found in the semiconductor industry.

A variable filter array spectrometer can help defeat the environmental restraints of traditional infrared spectrometers.

The authors describe several applications of FT-IR spectroscopy in the biomedical sciences, including characterization of healthy and neoplastic human skin samples affected by two kinds of cancers, and examination of liver damage and regeneration caused by carbon tetrachloride.

The authors continue their discussion of computing confidence limits for the correlation coefficient in developing a calibration for quantitative analysis.

The Spectroscopy staff presents a sampling of new product introductions that you can expect to see at the show, as well as a summary of special session topics and workshop content.

The authors discuss how the Raman microscope is being used successfully to characterize pharmaceuticals, analyze disease states, and to characterize semiconductors and nanotechnologies.

This article examines advances that have been made to combine existing analytical techniques with Raman instrumentation. Some of these methods offer enhanced sample visualization, while others provide complementary vibrational spectroscopic information from a single sample point.

The authors discuss several sample types encountered in their laboratory for which Raman spectroscopy is the only reliable method of analysis. The technique is shown to be a routine and cost-effective tool for the industrial laboratory.

The authors review a surface enhanced laser Raman spectroscopy study of lung surfactant protein interaction with bacterial lipopolysaccharide.

This article overviews several recent advancements in Raman components that are enabling high analytical performance in low-cost Raman instruments.

The authors show how a multivariate curve resolution algorithm, called SIMPLe-to-use Interactive Self-modeling Mixture Analysis (SIMPLISMA), can facilitate the quantitative and qualitative analysis of difficult samples, and apply the algorithm to a technically challenging Raman spectra series for carbamazepine polymorphs.

Raman spectroscopy is used routinely by the agencies tasked with homeland defense, and current research using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy shows promise for the detection of chemical warfare agents and other toxic chemicals. This article overviews some of the latest developments in the field.

The authors continue their discussion of the correlation coefficient in developing a calibration for quantitative analysis.

The analytical challenges in marine chemistry are numerous due to the large number of natural toxins and their metabolites, the highly toxic nature of many of these compounds, and increasingly stringent regulatory guidelines. This article gives an overview of some recently developed mass spectrometry techniques and their application to marine biotoxins.

Dartmouth Medical School's recent Alternative Breast Imaging Project was comprised of three types of imaging techniques, including near infrared (NIR).

This column discusses the space charge effect, which is rooted in the physics of interaction between charged particles, with direct implications in MS instrument design and consequences in their performance.

Thermo Electron

Part VIII of the series covers change control and its importance in maintaining a system's validation status.

Spectroscopy presents our annual wrap-up of spectroscopic instruments that appeared this year at the Pittsburgh Conference.

The Chemical Heritage Foundation launches a project to catalog and display the most important analytical instruments of the 20th century.

Because tautomers are closely related structural isomers, it can be difficult to identify distinguishing traits. Specialized software can be used to accelerate the assignment and validation of proposed tautomers.

The Practical Guide to ICP-MS is the book form of a series of articles that appeared recently in Spectroscopy.

American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) board member O. David Sparkman reviews the past year and summarizes the latest updates in mass spectrometry.

Spectroscopy columnist and MS expert Ken Busch presents an updated glossary of industry acronyms -- a handy guide for the seasoned analyst as well as those new to the field.

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a widely used technique for the rapid examination of compound purity. The amount of qualitative information, however, is limited to the retention factor of compounds. The technique described here enables the direct determination of TLC plates by MALDI MS.

The 52nd annual ASMS conference will be held May 23-27, 2004 in Nashville, TN. Like its predecessors, this year's meeting will be geared toward promoting and disseminating knowledge of MS.

New developments in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) technology enable decoupling of the ionization source from the time-of-flight mass analyzer for operation at atmospheric pressure (AP-MALDI). This technique also can be integrated with other types of mass analyzers, such as the ion trap.

A handheld spectrometer is the latest weapon used in the ongoing battle between the spirits industry and costly counterfeit products.

NIR-CI adds a completely new dimension to conventional spectroscopy.

Because tautomers often cannot be isolated as single isomers, spectroscopists should always anticipate possible tatomeric forms that can complicate the interpretation of their spectra. This involves the use of spectral databases and tautomerically enabled search algorithms.