QUANTITATIVE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY USING RESONANT AND NONRESONANT COLLISIONS IN ION TRAPS

In ion trap mass spectrometry, collisional experiments are easily perf ormed by precursor ion selection and software controlled operations. C ollisional activation can be achieved by two different approaches, res onant and non-resonant excitation. Different results are usually obtai ned by the two approaches. Four related compounds of biological intere st (lignin monomers), i.e. guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol), syringol (2,6-d imethoxyphenol), 4-allyl syringol (2,6-dimethoxy-4-allyl-phenol) and 4 -syringaldehyde (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde) have been studie d by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, Sample concentration affects both single ion storage and collisional spectra of these comp ounds. The use of the two collisional approaches leads to different co llision induced dissociation spectra of molecular species. The present work attempts to rationalize the observed behaviour. (C) 1998 John Wi ley & Sons, Ltd.