Rapid Analysis of Complex Mixtures Using the solariX-CM, FTMS Platform0 pages

Bruker Daltonics

Technical Note # TN-34
Rapid Analysis of Complex Mixtures
Using the solariX-CM, FTMS Platform

Abstract
The solariX-CM FTMS represents the ultimate MS
solution for addressing complex mixtures that are
not easily amenable to chromatographic separation
techniques. These application areas include, but are
not limited to, petroleomics (e.g. crude oil analysis),
environmental analysis (e.g. humic acid analysis in river
waters), and metabolomics. The resolving power required
for dealing with the inherent and extreme complexity
of these applications is typically greater than 400,000.
Mass accuracies in the sub-ppm range are also essential
to help ensure reliable molecular formulae assignments.
The solariX-CM routinely delivers ultimate selectivity and
specificity with “benchtop” ease-of-use.

Introduction
Mass spectrometry, in combination with chromatographic
separation methods, has been widely used to address the
challenges associated with complex mixtures. However,
the development and optimization of chromatographic
separation methods for complex mixtures can be laborious and increases the overall analysis time. Moreover,
some compound classes and mixtures are simply not
amenable to standard separation techniques such as high
pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or capillary

electrophoresis (CE). The unparalleled resolving power
of the solariX-CM Fourier transform mass spectrometer
(FTMS) reduces the demands on chromatographic separation methods thereby making complex mixture analysis
much more efficient.
The classification of the components in crude oil including
the speciation of heteroatomic compounds like sulfur or
nitrogen compounds with specific double bond equivalents
are necessary for crude oil analysis on the molecular level.
Leveraging the resolution and mass accuracy of the FTMS,
the elemental composition of individual compounds of
crude oil has been analyzed [1] – [5].
Since the compound classes in oil represent a range of
polarity and gas-phase basicity it is essential to analyze
each sample under both positive and negative modes and
with different atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques. An advantage of the solariX is quick change-over
(in less than 5 minutes!) between API sources, such as
electrospray (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization
(APCI) and atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI).
Complex, rich datasets are quickly analyzed using Composer™ from Sierra Analytics. Composer is a comprehensive software package that is specific to petroleomics data.
It quickly and accurately provides classification and DBE