Sm. Pyle et al., ANALYSIS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS BY ION-TRAP TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY, Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 8(2), 1997, pp. 183-190
An ion-trap mass spectrometer with a wave board and tandem mass spectr
ometry software was used to analyze gas chromatographically separated
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by using collision-induced dis
sociation (CID). The nonresonant (multiple collision) mode was used to
determine the conditions for CID ionization of 18 PAHs. Unlike in ele
ctron impact (EI) analysis, the relative abundances of progeny ions of
isomers were statistically different (using Student's t-test) in CID
analysis, thus making isomer identification by CID possible. For compa
rison, CID and EI were applied to the analysis of used motor oil. CID
analysis was shown to be more sensitive than EI analysis of the used m
otor oil. Precision at the 10-ppb level for EI and CID showed relative
standard deviations of 5.2 and 7.7%, respectively. (C) 1997 American
Society for Mass Spectrometry