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Updated: Apr 4, 2026

MALDI Sample Preparation: the Ultra Thin Layer Method
Published on: April 29, 2007
Thin layer chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for direct analysis of raw samples
Bin Hu1, Gui-zhong Xin2, Pui-Kin So1
1State Key Laboratory of Chirosciences, Food Safety and Technology Research Centre and Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; State Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology (Incubation), Shenzhen Research Institute of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Abstract:
Conventional mass spectrometric analysis of raw samples commonly requires sample pretreatment and chromatographic separation using high performance liquid chromatography or gas chromatography, which could be time-consuming and laborious. In this study, thin layer chromatography (TLC) coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was developed for direct analysis of raw samples. The sorbent material of the TLC plate was found to be able to retain the interfering compounds and allow interested analytes to be extracted, ionized and detected by ESI-MS with much reduced matrix interference. Our results showed that this method could be effectively applied in direct analysis of samples containing common interfering compounds, e.g., salts and detergents, and rapid detection and quantitation of target analytes in raw samples. Offline and online separation and detection of different components in mixture samples, e.g., plant extracts, using TLC-ESI-MS were also demonstrated. Overall, this study revealed that TLC-ESI-MS could be a simple, rapid and efficient method for analysis of raw samples.
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