Review of advances in planar chromatography-mass spectrometry published in the period 2015–2019

Abstract

One of the most important contributions to the analysis of mixtures using TLC/HPTLC has been the interface device allowing for direct elution of the sample spots from the developed TLC/HPTLC plate directly into a mass spectrometer. This is a review of more recent papers using this technology in various fields since 2015. Applications covered include caffeine in energy drinks, the anti-cancer drug ifosfamide, estrogens, lichen metabolites, lipids, traditional medicinals & phytochemicals, triterpenoids & phytosterols in vegetables, saponins, synthetic pharmaceutical products, and peptides in wines. New and different interface designs and uses are detailed in additional sections. Different techniques for producing ions (ionization) found suitable for TLC/MS applications are shown. Lastly, a summary and the future prospects of this useful analytical tool are discussed.