Ionization Methods in Organic Mass Spectrometry
Introduction
A mass spectrometer works by using magnetic and electric fields to exert forces on charged particles (ions) in a vacuum. Therefore, a compound must be charged or ionized to be analyzed by a mass spectrometer. Furthermore, the ions must be introduced in the gas phase into the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer. This is easily done for gaseous or heat-volatile samples. However, many (thermally labile) analytes decompose upon heating. These kinds of samples require either desorption or desolvation methods if they are to be analyzed by mass spectrometry. Although ionization and desorption/desolvation are usually separate processes, the term "ionization method" is commonly used to refer to both ionization and desorption (or desolvation) methods.
The choice of ionization method depends on the nature of the sample and the type of information required from the analysis. So-called 'soft ionization' methods such as field desorption and electrospray ionization tend to produce mass spectra with little or no fragment-ion content.
Gas-Phase Ionization
These methods rely upon ionizing gas-phase samples. The samples are usually introduced through a heated batch inlet, heated direct insertion probe, or a gas chromatograph.