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Advances in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS): applications in exhaled breath analysis, food science, and atmospheric chemistry
Citation:
Pleil, J., A. Hansel, AND J. Beauchamp. Advances in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS): applications in exhaled breath analysis, food science, and atmospheric chemistry. Journal of Breath Research. Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol, Uk, 13(3):039002, (2019).
Impact/Purpose:
This report discusses advances in instrumentation based on soft chemical ionization followed by high-resolution real-time mass spectrometry (HR-MS), specifically in relation to developments in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) technology. It is part of a Journal of Breath Research series that describes recent technical developments in breath related research relevant to human health and analytical chemistry from scientific conferences. Herein we discuss the current state of PTR-MS as presented at the 8th International Conference on Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry held in Innsbruck, Austria, February 2–8, 2019, attended by the authors.
Description:
The advent of direct injection MS (DIMS) using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) that bypasses the chromatography step circumvented some of the obstacles posed by offline sampling and long analysis times. The challenge, however, was that fragment ions of all compounds were presented to the mass analyzer simultaneously and so sacrificed specificity and sensitivity. Technology has now advanced wherein the value of temporal separation from chromatography is deemphasized by low-pressure chemical ionization and increasingly more sophisticated analytical software. This report discusses advances in instrumentation based on soft chemical ionization followed by high-resolution real-time mass spectrometry (HR-MS), specifically in relation to developments in proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) technology.