Preventing false negatives with high-resolution mass spectrometry: the benzophenone case
H Gallart-Ayala1, O Nuñez, E Moyano
1Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry : RCM
|September 29, 2011
Summary
High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) improves benzophenone (BP) detection in food packaging, overcoming limitations of traditional LC/MS/MS. This advanced method enhances selectivity and aids in identifying interfering compounds like Harman.
Area of Science:
- Analytical Chemistry
- Food Safety
- Mass Spectrometry
Background:
- Benzophenone (BP) contamination in food arises from packaging materials.
- Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is standard but sometimes insufficient for unambiguous contaminant confirmation.
- Previous work by authors faced challenges in unequivocally identifying BP due to ion ratio errors exceeding 20%.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a fast, sensitive, and selective liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC/HRMS) method for BP analysis in packaged foods.
- To overcome the limitations of LC/MS/MS in unambiguously confirming BP presence.
- To compare the performance of LC/HRMS with LC/MS/MS for BP detection.
Main Methods:
- Development and application of a novel LC/HRMS methodology.
- Analysis of BP in packaged food samples.
- Direct comparison of LC/HRMS data with LC/MS/MS data.
- Utilizing a resolving power of 50,000 FWHM in LC/HRMS.
Main Results:
- LC/HRMS demonstrated superior selectivity compared to LC/MS/MS when analyzing BP.
- The high resolving power of LC/HRMS enabled the detection and identification of Harman, an interfering compound.
- Harman was identified as the substance hindering unambiguous BP confirmation by LC-MS/MS.
- Quantitative results from Orbitrap (LC/HRMS) and TSQ (LC/MS/MS) mass analyzers were comparable.
Conclusions:
- LC/HRMS offers enhanced selectivity and is crucial for unambiguous identification of contaminants like BP in complex matrices.
- The developed LC/HRMS method effectively overcomes the limitations of traditional LC/MS/MS.
- Identification of interfering compounds like Harman is facilitated by high-resolution mass spectrometry.
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