Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique used to determine the molecular mass and molecular formula of a compound. The basic principle of mass spectrometry is to generate ions from the analyte molecule and measure these ion abundances against their molecular mass.  One common type of ionization, known as electrospray ionization or EI, bombards the analyte molecules in the gas phase with high-energy electron beams. The electron beams displace an electron from the molecule and leave...

Mass spectrometry is an important technique for the identification of pure compounds. However, it has some limitations for the analysis of complex mixtures, often due to excessive fragmentation making the spectrum too complicated to decipher. Mass spectrometry can be combined with suitable separation methods in sequence, forming hyphenated methods, which are useful in the analysis of complex mixtures.
GC–MS is a powerful hyphenated method commonly used in forensics and environmental...

This lesson details the instrumentation of a mass spectrometer—a physical instrument to perform mass spectrometry on analyte molecules and record the characteristic mass spectra. This is achieved via three chief functions:

In inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS), an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch is used as an atomizer and ionizer. Solid samples are dissolved and volatilized before being introduced into the high-temperature argon plasma, while solution samples are nebulized and passed through the high-temperature argon plasma. Plasma dissociates the analytes and ionizes their component atoms to form a mixture of positive ions and molecular species. The positive ions are then...

The mass analyzer is a crucial component of the mass spectrometer. In the ionization chamber, the vaporized sample is bombarded with a high-energy electron beam to generate a radical cation and further fragment into neutral molecules, radicals, and cations. A series of negatively charged accelerator plates accelerate the cations into the mass analyzer. The mass analyzer separates ions according to their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios and then directs them to the detector. The common types of mass...

Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is an analytical technique that employs two mass analyzers. Essentially it is a series of mass spectrometers that helps isolate a particular biomolecule and then helps study its chemical properties.
This technique helps gather information regarding the protein from which the peptide was obtained and to study the peptides’ amino acid sequence. Identifying peptides from a complex mixture is an important component of the growing field of...