Page 17 - Analityka 1/2016

Po co nam wysokorozdzielcza NAUKA
spektrometria mas?

ROZWÓJ I ZASTOSOWANIE

Detection and identification of appearing in the nature of unknown chemical compounds is a challenge for mod-
ern analytical chemistry. The aim of analysts is that all newly synthesized substances have to be thoroughly tested
for their effects on living organisms. Such an approach requires in detail knowledge of the molecular structure of
a chemical compound, which was performed mostly by traditional spectroscopic methods like nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Mass spectrometry to study the structure and identify the
analytes was used only as a complementary technique.
However, prevalence on the analytical market high-resolution mass spectrometry, measuring mass of analyte with
high accuracy, allowed a certain identification of tested substances. The identification was usually performed after
chromatographic separation. In many cases, MS allowed to confirm the identity of the analyte without the use
of other spectroscopic techniques. Currently, there are many technical solutions i.e. the mass analyzers, which
allows to obtain a high resolution spectrometer. Historically, the oldest a high-resolution mass spectrometer system
is electro-magnetic sector. In subsequent years, there were other solutions, such as high-speed analyzers time
of flight (TOF), based on the technique of pedestrian - cyclotron resonance analyzers Fourier transform (FT-ICR)
and Orbitrap analyzer. These types of mass spectrometers have both advantages and some analytical limitations.
Properties and application of high resolution mass spectrometers will be discussed in this article.

ANALITYKA – NUMER 1, ROK (XVII) 2016 37