C. Berchtold, L. Meier, R. Zenobi

Diagnosis by online breath analysis using mass spectrometry is challenging because of the low concentrations of pertinent compounds in breath. Here we investigate extractive electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization for the detection of narcotics in breath.

J. Zhu, H. D. Bean, Y-M Kuo, and J. E. Hill

We propose a novel application of secondary electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) as a real-time clinical diagnostic tool for bacterial infection. It is known that volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produced in different combinations and quantities by bacteria as metabolites, generate characteristic odors for certain bacteria.

Liang Zhu, Zhong Hu, G. Gamez, Wai Siang Law, Huan Wen Chen, ShuiPing Yang, Konstantin Chingin, Roman M. Balabin, Rui Wang, TingTing Zhang, R. Zenobi

By gently bubbling nitrogen gas through beer, an effervescent beverage, both volatile and non-volatile compounds can be simultaneously sampled in the form of aerosol. This allows for fast (within seconds) fingerprinting by extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) in both negative and positive ion mode, without the need for any sample pre-treatment …

Leonard A. Dillon, Victoria N. Stone, Laura A. Croasdell, Peter R. Fielden, Nicholas J. Goddard and C. L. Paul Thomas

An electrospray ionisation triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (Varian 1200 L) was modified to accept nitrogen samples containing low concentrations of volatile organic compounds. Six candidate probe compounds, methyl decanoate, octan-3-one, 2-ethylhexanoic acid, 1,4-diaminobutane, dimethyl methylphosphonate, and 2,3-butanediol, at concentrations below 50 ppb(v) were generated with permeation tubes in a test atmosphere generator.

Zhongchen Wu, Konstantin Chingin, Huanwen Chen, Liang Zhu, Bin Jia, R. Zenobi

The development of analytical techniques suitable for sensitive, high-throughput, and nondestructive food analysis has been of increasing interest in recent years. In this study, mass-spectral fingerprints of various cheese products were rapidly recorded in the mass range of m/z 50-300 Da without any sample pretreatment, using ND-EESI-MS in negative ion mode.

J. C. Reynolds,* G. J. Blackburn, C. Guallar-Hoyas, V. H. Moll, V. Bocos-Bintintan, G. Kaur-Atwal, M. D. Howdle, E. L. Harry, L. J. Brown, C. S. Creaser, and C. L. P. Thomas

A thermal desorption unit has been interfaced to an electrospray ionization-ion mobility-time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The interface was evaluated using a mixture of six model volatile organic compounds which showed detection limits of <1 ng sample loaded onto a thermal desorption tube packed with Tenax, equivalent to sampled concentrations of 4 μg L−1. Thermal desorption profiles were observed for all of the compounds, and ion mobility-mass spectrometry separations were used to resolve the probe compound responses from each other…