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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

MALDI Sample Preparation: the Ultra Thin Layer Method
Published on: April 29, 2007
The bridge between thin layer chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass
Yafeng Li1, Jianing Wang1, Lingpeng Zhan1
1Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
The combination of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) has been studied for decades, but for most cases MS detection is done after TLC separation is finished. Here, an online simultaneous TLC-MS analysis system, liquid thin layer chromatography-mass spectrometry (LTLC-MS), is developed which successfully synchronize TLC separation process and MS detection process like GC-MS and HPLC-MS do. And there's no need to use specially designed TLC, just regular TLC plates are enough. LTLC-MS method is composed of a newly developed ambient ionization method, glow discharge-matrix assisted infrared desorption ionization (GD-MAIRDI), and forced-flow TLC (FFTLC) technique, which guarantees the MS detection process does not disturb the TLC separation process throughout the whole analysis. The whole LTLC-MS analysis only need two steps and less than 15min. Mixtures as well as the two main components of a pain relief pills have been successfully analyzed by LTLC-MS. This proof of concept study opens up new possibilities of combining TLC with MS, and will further broaden the application abilities of TLC.
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