An analyte molecule was ionized using a femtosecond laser as the ionization source and was measured by a twin-type time-of-flight mass spectrometer with long (42 cm) and short (6.4 cm) flight tubes. ...The signal was measured using an analog signal digitizer and a time-correlated single ion counting system, and performance was evaluated by comparing data obtained from both instruments. The short mass spectrometer had a mass resolution of 450 and was used in the trace analysis of allergenic substances in a fragrance.
Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), collected from ambient air in Fukuoka City, was analyzed by gas chromatography combined with multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry using an ultraviolet femtosecond ...laser (267 nm) as the ionization source. Numerous parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAHs) were observed in a sample extracted from PM2.5, and their concentrations were determined to be in the range from 30 to 190 pg/m
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for heavy PPAHs. Standard samples of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) were examined, and the limits of detection were determined to be in the picogram range. The concentration of NPAH adsorbed on PM2.5 in the air was less than 900–1300 pg/m
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Graphical Abstract
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A sample containing nitrated aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) was injected into the sample inlet port of a gas chromatograph (GC), along with hydrazine, a reducing reagent. The analytes that eluted from ...the GC column were measured by mass spectrometry (MS) using an ultraviolet femtosecond laser as the ionization source. When no reducing reagent was used, large numbers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including NPAHs were observed in the two-dimensional GC/MS display. In contrast, when hydrazine was present, reduced forms of NPAHs, which included amino PAHs, were detected. When a palladium or platinum catalyst was placed in the GC inlet port, the compounds were further reduced to non-aromatic hydrocarbons. The present approach would be useful for studies to evaluate the chemical reaction that converts the constituents contained in exhaust emitted from a diesel engine.
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•A chemical conversion system was employed to identify nitrated aromatic hydrocarbons.•A reaction mimicking a chemical conversion in a diesel engine system was used for analysis.•Femtosecond ionization mass spectrometry was utilized for observing a molecular ion.•A sample extracted from exhaust gas emitted from a diesel engine was measured.
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•A UV ultrashort laser pulse was useful for ionization of triacetone triperoxide.•A molecular ion was strongly enhanced in multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry.•Triacetone ...triperoxide in the human blood was measured without any interferences.•An organic compound of phorone was formed in the human blood from acetone.
Triacetone triperoxide (TATP), an explosive compound, was measured using gas chromatography combined with multiphoton ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI-TOFMS). By decreasing the pulse width of a femtosecond laser from 80 to 35fs, a molecular ion was drastically enhanced and was measured as one of the major ions in the mass spectrum. The detection limits obtained using the molecular (M+) and fragment (C2H3O+) ions were similar or slightly superior to those obtained using conventional mass spectrometry based on electron and chemical ionization. In order to improve the reliability, an isotope of TATP, i.e., TATP-d18, was synthesized and used as an internal standard in the trace analysis of TATP in a sample of human blood. TATP could be identified in a two-dimensional display, even though numerous interfering compounds were present in the sample. Acetone, which is frequently used as a solvent in sampling TATP, produced a chemical species with a retention time nearly identical to that of TATP and provided a C2H3O+ fragment ion that was employed for measuring a chromatogram of TATP in conventional MS. This compound, the structure of which was assigned as phorone, was clearly differentiated from TATP based on a molecular ion observable in MPI-TOFMS.
An autocorrelator consisting of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer as a two-photon-response detector was constructed for use in measuring an optical pulse width based on non-resonant two-photon ...ionization. An organic compound that can be two-photon ionized in a wide spectral region has the potential for use in measuring an optical pulse width approaching 1fs.
Excitation energies, oscillator strengths, and vacuum-ultraviolet/deep-ultraviolet absorption spectra were calculated for nerve agents, such as sarin, soman, VX, tabun, mustard gas, and analogs. We ...used time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods that included B3LYP combined with basis sets of cc-pVDZ and cc-pVTZ, and ωB97XD with cc-pVTZ. The vertical ionization energies were also calculated for these compounds, in order to collect additional information relative to the optimal pathways for multiphoton ionization in mass spectrometry.
The temporal profile of the second and third harmonic emissions of a Ti:sapphire laser was measured using an autocorrelator consisting of a mass spectrometer as a two-photon-response detector. A ...number of organic compounds that are potentially applicable for two-photon excitation and subsequent one-photon ionization were investigated using density functional theory calculations.
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′-dimethylaniline and acetonitrile were used for the measurement of the pulse width for the second and third harmonic emissions of the Ti:sapphire laser. This approach has the potential for use in measuring pulse widths as short as 1–3 fs in the ultraviolet region.
Gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI/TOF-MS) was developed for trace analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans ...(PCDD/Fs). The use of an ultraviolet femtosecond laser (266 nm) allowed the sensitive, as well as selective, determination of PCDD/Fs with short singlet-excited-state lifetimes; the detection limit was 19 fg for 1,3,6,8-tetraCDF. Performance of the analytical instrument was examined and was ascertained to be satisfactory for all the criteria (K0311) prescribed by the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). The relative ionization efficiencies of 12C-native PCDD/Fs against 13C-labeled PCDD/Fs were 1.002 ± 0.012. This suggests that 13C-labeled isotopes can be used as internal standards with no intensity calibration and that the concentrations of PCDD/Fs can be determined to within an error of ca. 1%. In addition, multiphoton ionization provides negligible levels of background interference for the real soil samples even with curtailed pretreatment. The toxicity equivalence (TEQ) of the real sample was determined using GC/MPI/TOF-MS for performance evaluation against high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The results suggest equivalent or even superior performance for GC/MPI/TOF-MS, due to low background interference and to the ability to check the reliability of the assignment from the intensity distribution of the isotope peaks.
A variety of organic compounds in human exhaled breath were measured online by mass spectrometry using the fifth (206 nm) and fourth (257 nm) harmonic emissions of a femtosecond ytterbium (Yb) laser ...as the ionization source. Molecular ions were enhanced significantly by means of resonance-enhanced, two-color, two-photon ionization, which was useful for discrimination of analytes against the background. The limit of detection was 0.15 ppm for acetone in air. The concentration of acetone in exhaled breath was determined for three subjects to average 0.31 ppm, which lies within the range of normal healthy subjects and is appreciably lower than the range for patients with diabetes mellitus. Many other constituents, which could be assigned to acetaldehyde, ethanol, isoprene, phenol, octane, ethyl butanoate, indole, octanol, etc., were observed in the exhaled air. Therefore, the present approach shows potential for use in the online analysis of diabetes mellitus and also for the diagnosis of various diseases, such as COVID-19 and cancers.
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