Polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons in a soil sample measured using gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI/TOF-MS) was applied to a soil sample to survey several groups of polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), polychlorinated diphenylethers (PCDEs), and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs)). The signal peaks in the two-dimensional display of GC/MS could be easily and accurately assigned from the intensity distribution of the isotope peaks, even in the presence of numerous interfering species. Using this technology, mutual interferences between organochlorine compounds can be readily recognized from the data of the two-dimensional display after a measurement, although the separation of these compounds is sometimes difficult using high-resolution magnetic-sector-type mass spectrometry. This approach, based on MPI, results in less fragmentation, and is useful for the identification of analytes. Thus, GC/MPI/TOF-MS allows for the simultaneous determination of PCDD/Fs and related compounds in real samples containing numerous interfering species.

Analysis of dioxins by gas chromatography/resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization/mass spectrometry using nanosecond and picosecond lasers.

Dioxins in a soil sample were measured using gas chromatography/resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with different types of laser sources. The fourth-harmonic emission (266 nm) of a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser (1 ns) provided low ionization efficiency, especially for highly chlorinated dioxins/dibenzofurans (CDDs/CDFs). The ionization efficiency was improved using the fourth-harmonic emission (266 nm) of a picosecond Nd:YAG laser (4 ps), due to shorter singlet excited-state lifetimes. It was, however, difficult to efficiently ionize hepta-CDD and octa-CDD/CDF, because of their shorter lifetimes, which were induced by stronger spin-orbit coupling that led to efficient relaxation of the excited molecule to triplet levels. The ionization efficiency was substantially improved using the fifth-harmonic emission (213 nm) of the picosecond Nd:YAG laser (4 ps), in which the analyte molecule that was relaxed to triplet levels was efficiently ionized using a photon with sufficient energy for ionization, although the pulse energy obtained at 213 nm was only one-third of the pulse energy obtained at 266 nm. The limits of detection achieved for 17 toxic polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) were 0.41-45 pg. The analytical instrument developed in the present study performed sufficiently well for the practical trace analysis of dioxins in soil samples.

Gas chromatography/femtosecond multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry of dioxins.

Gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI/TOF-MS) was developed for trace analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The use of an ultraviolet femtosecond laser (266 nm) allowed the sensitive, as well as selective, determination of PCDD/Fs with short singlet-excited-state lifetimes; the detection limit was 19 fg for 1,3,6,8-tetraCDF. Performance of the analytical instrument was examined and was ascertained to be satisfactory for all the criteria (K0311) prescribed by the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). The relative ionization efficiencies of (12)C-native PCDD/Fs against (13)C-labeled PCDD/Fs were 1.002 +/- 0.012. This suggests that (13)C-labeled isotopes can be used as internal standards with no intensity calibration and that the concentrations of PCDD/Fs can be determined to within an error of ca. 1%. In addition, multiphoton ionization provides negligible levels of background interference for the real soil samples even with curtailed pretreatment. The toxicity equivalence (TEQ) of the real sample was determined using GC/MPI/TOF-MS for performance evaluation against high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The results suggest equivalent or even superior performance for GC/MPI/TOF-MS, due to low background interference and to the ability to check the reliability of the assignment from the intensity distribution of the isotope peaks.

Enhancement of molecular ions in mass spectrometry using an ultrashort optical pulse in multiphoton ionization.

The spectral domain of an ultraviolet femtosecond laser was expanded by stimulated Raman scattering/four-wave Raman mixing, and the resulting laser pulse was compressed using a pair of gratings. The pulse width was then measured using an autocorrelator comprised of a Michelson interferometer equipped with a multiphoton ionization/mass spectrometer which was used as a two-photon detector. A gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer was employed to analyze triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and the molecular ion induced by multiphoton ionization was substantially enhanced by decreasing the laser pulse width.

Data processing technique in gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

A complete mass spectrum was measured at an acquisition rate of 1 kHz using a femtosecond-multiphoton-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer for analyte eluting from a gas chromatograph. A contour-map display, i.e. a two-dimensional plot, of the data was first constructed for a simultaneous overview of the mass spectra and the mass chromatograms. The noise component in the signal was then reduced by digital filtering and reduced further by smoothing the data. The detection limit (S/N = 3) was improved from 240 to 76 fg for 2,3,4,6,7-pentachlorodibenzofuran, with no appreciable loss of resolution in the chromatogram. The achieved value was lower than the value (<100 fg) required by Japanese Industrial Standards for dioxin analysis. A new parameter, referred to as a 'reliability factor', was defined in this study to calculate the similarity between the intensity distribution of the isotope peaks observed in the mass spectrum and that calculated from the natural abundance ratio of the isotopes. This parameter was useful for evaluation of the purity of the chromatographic peak.

Near-ultraviolet femtosecond laser ionization of dioxins in gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI/TOF-MS) was applied to the trace analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). To determine the optimum wavelength for analysis of PCDD/Fs, the wavelength of the femtosecond laser utilized for multiphoton ionization was converted to near-ultraviolet status using stimulated Raman scattering. A femtosecond laser emitting at 300 nm completely eliminated the background signal arising from the bleeding compounds generated from a stationary phase of the capillary column in GC.