Abstract:
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High-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry, FAIMS, is a novel gas-phase separation technique, developed at INMS and commercialized by Ionalytics. The FAIMS device operates at ambient conditions and is installed between an atmospheric pressure ion source and the mass spectrometer. Key benefits of the technology include reduced chemical background, increased selectivity and, in some cases, the ability to separate isobaric compounds, often leading to reduced limits of detection and faster analysis times. The first use of FAIMS data in the certification of a reference material was in support of the NIST project to certify ephedrine alkaloids in dietary supplements. Three sets of diastereoisomers, ephedrine and pseudoehpedrine, norephedrine and norpseudoephedrine, and methylephedrine and methylpseudoephedrine, were measured in dried plant material using a FAIMS device (Ionalytics Selectra) coupled with electrospray ionization and mass spectrometric detection. The resulting values are included in the certified values for NIST srm 3240(E. sinica Stapf, Aerial Parts). Work is currently underway to develop FAIMS-based methods to quantify amino acids and organo-metallic species in a yeast matrix, ginsenosides in dried root material and some alkaloids in goldenseal plant material. These methods will be validated and, if found appropriate, applied to the certification of some or all of these materials.
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