Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry facility : recent improvements and applications

Abstract

Marine organic and organic geochemical studies require the best available performance in trace analysis of organic compounds in environmental samples. This report briefly outlines some of the recent improvements in the experimental capabilities of the Chemistry Department Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Facility (GC/MS Facility) from a user-oriented and non-technical viewpoint. These improvements include principally the interfacing of high performance glass capillary columns with Finnigan 1015 and 3200 quadrupole mass spectrometers, and the adaptation of the latter for use with selective chemical ionization (CI) techniques. Some of the new capabilities available using combined glass capillary GC/EI-MS and CI-MS are illustrated with examples from research in several areas of marine organic chemistry. These include studies of volatile organics in seawater, the distributions of various lipid class compounds in marine phytoplankton, sediments and particulate matter, and the behavior of anthropogenic pollutants in natural and artificial marine ecosystems.