DETERMINATION OF HERBICIDES OF THE SULFONYLUREA SERIES IN BIOLOGICAL MATRICES USING TIME-OF-FLIGHT PLASMA-DESORPTION MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Time-of-flight plasma-desorption mass spectrometry is shown to be a pr omising rapid method for the determination of thermally unstable, nonv olatile, and highly polar herbicides of the sulfonylurea, Chlorsulfuro n, and Methsulfuron-Methyl series, in particular. The concentration of these herbicides in the sample is 0.1-5 mu g; determination is possib le in the presence of multicomponent biological matrices (unpurified e xtracts from plant tissues). The determination method for sulfonylurea derivatives allows simultaneous detection of several compounds from a single sample using their quasi-molecular ions [M + H](+), [M + K](+) and [M + 2K - H](+), where M is a herbicide molecule.