Detecting the color chemicals in autumn leaves by using The Ambient Ionization Toolbox™
The AccuTOF-DART Ambient Ionization Toolbox® provides multiple methods for chemical analysis with ambient ionization, without having to change ion sources. This makes it fast and easy to characterize chemical compounds with different polarities and chemical structures, such as the chemical compounds that produce the bright colors of autumn leaves.
For the leaf extracts, Argon DART with chlorobenzene dopant was highly selective for detecting conjugated nonpolar compounds such as phytosterols and carotenoids. PaperSpray and MAIV were effective for detecting charged and polar compounds such as chlorophyll and anthocyanins.