Abstract
Due to the absence of chromatographic separation, ambient ionization mass spectrometry had the potential to improve the throughput of control laboratories in the last decades and will soon be an excellent approach for on-site use as well. In this study, an atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) with a single quadrupole mass analyzer has been evaluated to identify anabolic steroid esters rapidly. Sample introduction, applied scan time, and probe temperature were optimized for sensitivity. The in-source fragmentations of seventeen selected steroid esters, commonly found in illicit samples, were determined by applying different cone voltages (12, 20, 30, and 40 V). A spectral library was created for these steroid esters based on the four stages of in-source fragmentation spectra. The applicability of this method was demonstrated for the rapid identification of steroid esters in oily injection solutions, providing test results in less than 2 min.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The use of ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) in food and forensic control laboratories to improve their laboratory throughput has increased during the last decade [1, 2]
Sample introduction in an ambient ionization source should be performed in a consistent manner to obtain reproducible results
Relatively dry ambient conditions (iii) can result in molecular ions [M]+ via charge transfer from radical nitrogen [24]. In this case, since an open atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) source has been employed, all the studied compounds showed [M + H ]+ ions in their full scan mass spectra (Table S1), and under no circumstance was the molecular ion observed, in accordance with other studies [20]. These results indicate that ambient humidity may play an important role in the protonation of these analytes when dried samples or non-protic solvents are used, as in other AIMS techniques such as direct analysis in real-time (DART) [25]
Summary
The use of ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) in food and forensic control laboratories to improve their laboratory throughput has increased during the last decade [1, 2]. A library was created for the real-time library matching of steroid esters in real samples based on their in-source fragmentation mass spectra. The matrix effect (ME, %) in the ionization process was estimated for each compound from the relative difference between the peak area observed in the analysis of the spiked blank oil diluted in acetonitrile and that obtained from standard mixtures prepared in acetonitrile:water (50:50, v/v) at the same concentration level.
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