SFC-APLI-(TOF)MS: Hyphenation of Supercritical Fluid Chromatography to Atmospheric Pressure Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Atmospheric-pressure laser ionization mass spectrometry (APLI-MS) is a powerful method for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, which are ionized in a selective and highly sensitive way via resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization. APLI was presented in 2005 and has been hyphenated successfully to chromatographic separation techniques like high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). In order to expand the portfolio of chromatographic couplings to APLI, a new hyphenation setup of APLI and supercritical-fluid chromatography (SFC) was constructed and aim of this work. Here, we demonstrate the first hyphenation of SFC and APLI in a simple designed way with respect to different optimization steps to ensure a sensitive analysis. The new setup permits qualitative and quantitative determination of native and also more polar PAH molecules. As a result of the altered ambient characteristics within the source enclosure, the quantification of 1-hydroxypyrene...