ANALYSIS OF WATER-SOLUBLE VITAMINS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY PARTICLE-BEAM MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Particle beam (PB) LC-MS was investigated for the analysis of eleven w ater-soluble vitamins, A reversed-phase chromatographic method making use of volatile buffers was set up for the simultaneous separation of this mixture by using narrow-bore columns, After optimization of the P B interface parameters, the effect of the MS source temperature was ev aluated at 200 degrees C and 300 degrees C in electron impact (EI) and chemical ionization (positive-ion, PCI and negative-ion, NCI) modes, Electron impact mass spectra were library-searchable, but generally se nsitivity was better under PCI conditions, Under these conditions and operating in selected-ion monitoring mode, linearity, detection limits and precision of the analysis was explored, Detection limits at the l ow-ng level were achieved for nicotinamide, nicotinic acid in PCI mode and pyridoxal under KCI conditions; repeatability of <6% (RSD) was ob tained for all the compounds examined except for biotin.