Cha, Eunju Jeong, Eun Sook Han, Sang Beom Cha, Sangwon Son, Junghyun Kim, Sunghwan Bin Oh, Han Lee, Jaeick 2024-01-19T23:30:33Z 2024-01-19T23:30:33Z 2021-09-03 2018-03 0003-2700 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/121671 Herein, gas-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as nonpolar compounds were ionized to protonated molecular ions [M + H](+) without radical cations and simultaneously analyzed using gas chromatography (GC)/electrospray ionization (ESI)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The ionization profile, dissociation, and sensitivity were first investigated to understand the significant behavior of gas-phase PAHs under ESI. The formation of protonated molecular ions of PAHs was distinguished according to the analyte phase and ESI spray solvents. The protonated PAHs exhibited characteristic dissociations, such as H-loss, H-2-loss, and acetylene-loss, via competition of internal energy. In addition, GC/ESI-MS/MS resulted in relatively lower concentration levels (better sensitivity) for the limits-of-detection (LODs) of PAHs than liquid chromatography (LC)/ESI-MS/MS, and it seems to result from the characteristic ionization mechanism of the gas-phase analyte under ESI. Furthermore, the LODs of gas-phase PAHs depended on molecular weight and proton affinity (PA). Consequently, we demonstrated the relationship among the analyte phases, sensitivities, and structural characteristics (molecular weight and PA) under ESI. The gas-phase PAHs provided enhanced protonation efficiency and sensitivity using GC/ESI-MS/MS, as their molecular weight and PA increased. Based on these results, we offered important information regarding the behavior of gas-phase analytes under ESI. Therefore, the present GC/ESI-MS/MS method has potential as an alternative method for simultaneous analysis of PAHs. English AMER CHEMICAL SOC Ionization of Gas-Phase Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Electrospray Ionization Coupled with Gas Chromatography Article 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b00401 1 ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, v.90, no.6, pp.4203 - 4211 ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 90 6 4203 4211 N scie scopus 000428219600077 2-s2.0-85044304832 Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry Article ENVIRONMENTAL-SAMPLES POLYAROMATIC HYDROCARBONS ANABOLIC-STEROIDS TRIPLE QUADRUPOLE SILVER-NITRATE PAHS IDENTIFICATION PERFORMANCE TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY PRESSURE CHEMICAL-IONIZATION