TIME-CONDENSED ANALYSES BY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Research has focused on the development of a new set of mathematical a lgorithms, encoded in C++, when combined with a thermal desorption sam ple introduction system provides quantitative analysis of a wide mixtu re of organic compounds in under 10 min by gas chromatography/mass spe ctrometry. The overall goal is to condense the time of analysis, inclu ding both the times required for sample preparation and for chromatogr aphic separation. In this paper, results are presented where compound identification has been made for polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinate d pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in the same solution and where gas chromatography separation times have been redu ced from 40 to 5 min. For the latter, all compounds elute within 3.5 m in, with structural isomers identified as the same compound, The 5-min analysis provides the foundation for rapid screening and on-line chem ical measurements of multicomponent mixtures, Results are also present ed where these same compounds are quantitatively analyzed in 10 min, w ith structural isomers identified individually, in the presence of a ( 25% v/v) weathered gasoline/engine oil mixture. Time-condensed complex mixture detection is now feasible making possible quantitative, high- throughput sample analyses.