Mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry: An overview

Abstract

In this chapter, a brief overview of fundamentals in mass spectrometry and of its applications in homeland security, forensic sciences and explosive detection, are presented. This chapter presents the general features of mass spectrometry and the main concepts in ionization techniques and analyzers, with particular attention to resolution, one of most important and “hot” topic in modern mass spectrometry. In addition, ambient mass spectrometry, a mass spectrometric analysis is discussed. This ambient ionization requires either no or minimal effort for sample preparation, using direct sampling. An overview of the wide range of ionization methods described in the literature, such as DART, DESI, PS is also presented. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), a methodology used both for identifying and characterizing analytes is discussed, as well as it uses for quantitative purposes. Different MS/MS experiments, collision-induced dissociations (CID), interactions of ions with electrons (ECD, ETD), photons (IRMPD) and with surfaces (SID) are also briefl y described.