LC-MS

greyvials.jpg

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis 

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a variant of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and is a fundamental analytical technique used to separate complex mixtures of organic compounds. The incorporation of mass spectrometry allows for the structural analysis and trace quantitation (even in highly complex matrices) of a wide range of analytes, from small molecules, to peptides and proteins, to polymers. The technique relies on the principles of HPLC to separate mixtures with multiple components, while mass spectrometry provides molecular identity of individual components with high specificity and detection. LC-MS is used to analyze thermally labile compounds that would be destroyed by the high heat of GC-MS.

Typical analysis examples include:

  • Drug delivery elution kinetics
  • Trace compound determination in a biologically derived matrix
  • Repeat unit analysis for polymer identification
  • Protein/peptide identification
  • Polymer molecular weight and fragmentation pattern analysis for end group analysis
  • Oligomeric identification and quantitation 

LC-MS Applications