Optimisation of ion trap parameters for the quantification of chlormequat by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and the application in the analysis of pear extracts

Optimisation of the activation parameters for ion trap mass spectrometric a nalysis of the chlormequat cation using simplex optimisation enabled the pr oduct ion (m/z 58) response to be improved 1000-fold. A comparison of the s ensitivity of the optimised ion trap mass spectrometer with that of a tripl e quadrupole mass spectrometer for liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectr ometry (LC/MS/MS) showed that similar limits of detection (LODs) could be a chieved. For the MS/MS transition of the Cl-35 precursor to the most abunda nt product, LODs were 0.8 ng cation mL(-1) (0.004 mg cation kg(-1) pear equ ivalent) and 1.0 ng cation mL(-1) (0.005 mg cation kg(-1) pear equivalent) on the triple quadrupole and ion trap instrument, respectively. Copyright ( C) 2000 John Whey & Sons, Ltd.