14th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop in Liege, Belgium
Earlier this month, JEOL Mass Spectrometry Product Manager Yoshi Ueda traveled to Liege Belgium to present at the
14th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop (MDC). Originally started by Professor Eric Reiner of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) in Toronto, this workshop returned as an in-person event for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts in multidimensional mass spectrometry from around the globe traveled to share research in Belgium’s second-largest province.
Among the focus groups, technical posters, and keynote speakers, Mr. Ueda shared with local scientists about our newly redesigned high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer for GCxGC-HRMS analysis, the
AccuTOF GC-Alpha.
Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry – Now in High Resolution
JEOL’s new HRMS features increased resolving power (R > 30,000) and high mass accuracy (< 1 ppm) while also offering a variety of ionization techniques that include electron ionization (EI) as standard with the system as well as three optional soft Ionization methods – chemical ionization (CI), photoionization (PI), and field ionization (FI).
Additionally, there are 2 combination ion sources (EI/FI/FD and EI/PI) that allow for switching between hard and soft ionization without breaking vacuum. Several applications were presented to highlight the capabilities of this new-high performance HRMS when combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.
Exploring the Ear Canal with GC x GC-MS
One surprising application highlighted at this conference was
GC x GC analysis of cerumen otherwise known as earwax. Although co-presence of many non-volatile and/or co-eluting compounds makes analysis difficult through GC-MS or LC-MS due to the need to saponify the sample, two dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has proven a successful method for characterizing chemical components present through non-polar (primary) and mid-polar (secondary) columns without saponification.
Cannabis Analysis: A Statistical Comparison of 2 Different Strains
Another application area highlighted at the conference involved using headspace (HS) GCxGC-HRMS to statistically compare the volatiles observed for 2 cannabis strains. Additionally, SpectralWorks AnalyzerPro XD software was used to compare the data sets as it has easy setup for automatic data analysis that includes:
- Data alignment of all GCxGC data
- Peak deconvolution
- Library search
- PCA analysis
The headspace results showed the clear presence of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygen containing monoterpenes and oxygen-containing sesquiterpenes in both samples. Additionally, there were several terpenes that were unique to each cannabis strain.
Finding the Right Fit for Your Lab
JEOL’s AccuTOF GC-Alpha is our cutting-edge HRMS instrument. To learn more about its capabilities,
check out this on-demand webinar introducing the system.
If you’re still not sure about what the best GC-MS system for your lab would be,
check out this webinar to learn more about what information is provided by which hardware and software configurations and determine the best gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system suited to your analytical application.