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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Untargeted Metabolomics from Biological Sources Using Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry UPLC-HRMS
Published on: May 20, 2013
Polar microcystins or arginine methyl ester can serve as sensitive reference materials for system suitability tests
Tommy Melzer1, Georg Pohnert1, Nico Ueberschaar2
1Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Lessingstr. 8, 07743, Jena, Germany.
Introduction:
LC-MS system suitability test (SST) is crucial for reliable data acquisition especially in untargeted metabolomics.
Objectives:
Identification of best reference materials (RMs) to improve best quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) practices.
Methods:
Investigations were performed using a C18 reversed-phase (RP) column LC-MS approach.
Results:
Targeted cyanotoxin analysis revealed a performance loss of the used C18 RP column although the SST confirmed a fit for purpose instrument which prompted to test several additional RMs.
Conclusion:
QA procedures for LC-MS can be improved by incorporating polar microcystins or arginine methyl ester as RMs for SST.
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