Bruker has released an application note detailing a simple, fast and robust method developed for the quantitation of sulfonamides in honey, using Bruker’s EVOQ Elite triple quadruple liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS).

19 December 2013: Boston, MA: 908 Devices, an innovator in point-of-need chemical analysis, is delighted to announce that M908, the world’s first and only handheld high pressure mass spectrometer, has been voted first place winner in The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards 2013. The awards select a single winner and recognize a short-list of the top 15 advances from across the broad field of analytical sciences.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a method for the fast determination of PCDD/Fs in sediments, soils, bottom and fly ash (as incineration by-products) using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS).

Contributing editor Tanuja Koppal, PhD, talks to Sunia Trauger, PhD, director of the Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry facility at Harvard University, about the recent trends in mass spectrometry. Advances in instrumentation, automation, and remote access seem to be leading the way to improved detection, faster results, and more diverse applications. While challenges in sample prep and data analysis remain issues, access to emerging informatics tools and experience handling and analyzing samples seem to mitigate some of the problems.

Problem: Detecting impurities in any chemical reaction has always been important to the chemist and it is becoming increasingly important to detect those present at low levels, (e.g. 0.5%).

Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid LC-MS technology to power new cellular signaling network.

“Fun new tools,” particularly in mass detection, have encouraged a new conversation among separation scientists, says Nicholas Hall, national sales director at LECO (St. Joseph, MI). “Every time this occurs, the instrument vendors engage in the equivalent of an arms race, where the battles are fought over specifications— more resolution, greater fragmentation capability.” But the real discussion has recently involved the very nature of chromatography, Hall says. “Just as important as the tool used for detection on the back end is the time and optimization that goes on at the front end.” Thus the resurgence of basic chromatography optimization, the application of solid analytical chemistry, and a focus on chromatography as the optimization of mass spectrometers. “If you have good separation and good sample preparation, and that goes into the MS, then you’re really optimizing the mass spectrometer’s capabilities.”