Mass Analytical Instrumentation

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that is used to measure the molecular mass of chemicals and identify unknown substances through the fragmentation patterns of gas phase ions. It works by ionizing chemical compounds to generate charged molecules or molecule fragments and measuring their mass-to-charge ratios. This allows the masses of samples to be determined with very high relative accuracy. Some applications of mass spectrometry within analytical chemistry include pharmaceutical analysis, drug screening, pollution analysis, metallurgy, petrochemistry, proteomics, metabolomics and food and beverage testing.

In Analytical Instrumentation, a typical mass spectrometer, the sample of interest is ionized using one of several ionization techniques. Common methods include electron ionization, chemical ionization, electrospray ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization. The resulting ions are then separated in a mass analyzer based on their different mass-to-charge ratios. Common types of mass analyzers used in analytical applications include quadrupole mass filters, ion traps, time-of-flight, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance cells and orbitrap analyzers.

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