PARALLEL MONITORING FOR MULTIPLE TARGETED COMPOUNDS BY ION-TRAP MASS-SPECTROMETRY

An approach to monitoring for the presence of several targeted compoun ds simultaneously using ion trap mass spectrometry is described. The u se of tailored waveforms sequentially applied to the ion trap end-cap electrodes allows for mass-selective accumulation of multiple parent i ons and simultaneous collisional activation of the ions. Further mass selection and ion activation steps can be performed to enhance specifi city, The detection of trace explosives in air is used as an illustrat ive case in which 2,4-dinitrotoluene, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and (2,4, 6-trinitrophenyl)methylnitramine are targeted for detection. The paral lel monitoring scheme trades specificity for advantages in speed and d uty cycle relative to tandem mass spectrometry experiments performed i n series.