GC/MS
A Practical User's Guide
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
The combination of gas liquid chromatography (GC) for separation and mass
spectrometry (MS) for detection and identification of the components of a
mixture of compounds is rapidly becoming the definitive analytical tool in the
research and commercial analytical laboratory. The GC/MS systems come in
many varieties and sizes depending on the work they are designed to
accomplish. Since the most common analyzer used in modern mass
spectrometers is the quadrupole, we will focus on this means of separating
ion fragments of different masses. Discussion of ion trap, time-of-flight,
Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS), and magnetic sector instruments
will be reserved for latter sections in the book.
The quadrupole operational model is the same for bench top production
units and for floor standing research instruments. The actual analyzer has
changed little in the last 10-12 years except to grow smaller in size. High
vacuum pumping has paralleled the changes in the analyzer, especially in the
high efficiency turbo that ... read full excerpt from GC/MS: A Practical User's Guide ebook
