Investigations of Acetate Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (NIPT-CIMS): Underlying Chemistry, Calibrations, and Operational Considerations for the Detection of Carboxylic Acids and Other Species

Abstract:

The growing use of high resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometers (HR-TOF-CIMS) as applied to gas and particle measurements requires a thorough understanding of the underlying chemistry to ensure accurate molecular identification. These systems are deployed using a number of reagent ion chemistries in both the positive and negative mode. Moreover, high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometers make it possible to detect and (potentially) quantify species without the use of authentic standards.

Acetate CIMS (or negative-ion proton-transfer CIMS) detects species by abstracting a proton from carboxylic acids, nitrated phenols, and other species with acidic protons. Clustering reactions are also known to occur, complicating analysis. proper interpretation of the mass spectra requires understanding these mechanisms and controlling for unwanted ionization processes. We investigate the ability to control for clustering reactions using authentic standards under various clustering regimes while maintaining ion transmission efficiency in simple and complex matrices. The feasibility of using isotopically labeled acetate to unambiguously identify clusters is also investigated. Bulk metrics for describing the spectra (oxygen:carbon, oxidation state, average carbon number, etc) are also investigated to understand their susceptibility to experimental configuration.