PLANAR CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED TO MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Applications of thin-layer chromatography/mass spectrometry are expand ing rapidly due to commercial availability of the devices, and improve d understanding of the procedures required to measure good quality mas s spectrometric data. Several of the common approaches to TLC/MS coupl ing are pursued in our laboratory; recent focus has been on techniques of sample preparation and plate treatment that allow direct TLC/MS an alysis to be completed on almost any instrument. Specific examples to be covered are the direct derivatization of alkaloid samples on Empore TLC plates for volatilization into an electron/chemical ionization so urce, development and concentration of thin-film fluorescent dyes for analysis by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS), and the us e of a CCD-based imaging system to explore the integration of optical and mass spectrometric information for the characterization of samples separated by thin layer chromatography.