Impurity analysis of 2-butynoic acid by ion chromatography-mass spectrometry

Small organic acids are widely used within the pharmaceutical industry but can be difficult to analyse. Ion chromatography is a suitable technique for the analysis of these acids but method development can be hindered as mass spectrometry is not often used as a detector; this means that peak tracking and peak purity cannot be performed. The authors report method development for the analysis of 2-butynoic acid, where by using electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, peak purity was investigated and the presence of co-eluting impurities determined. Optimisation of the additives in the make-up flow to the mass spectrometer was shown to have an impact on the response observed. A standard series of organic acids were analysed spiked in to 2-butynoic acid at levels representative of impurities, the presence of the 2-butynoic acid did not impact the linearity or limit of detection observed for the acids; R² values greater than 0.98 were obtained for all acids with and without the presence of 2-butynoic acid with a limit of detection at 1 ppb for all but one of the acids.