Atmospheric pressure laser ionization (APLI) (Constapel et al. in Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 19:326-336, 2005; Schiewek et al. in Anal Chem 79:4135-4140, 2007; Schmitz and Benter (2007) J Chromatography Library 72:89-114) is an ultra-sensitive and selective ionization method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic compounds. The selectivity is an advantage but also a disadvantage. To overcome the limitation of APLI to aromatic compounds, we have already reported some derivatization strategies for common organic functional groups (Schiewek et al. in Angew Chem Int Ed 47:9989-9992, 2008). Here, we describe the synthesis of new APLI ionization labels and their use in new derivatization strategies. These new labels widen the range of APLI-(TOF)MS analysis to non-aromatic compounds with the most common functional groups such as amines, alcohols and carboxylic acids to gas chromatography (GC) and lower the limits of detection (LOD) down to concentrations as small as pmol/L and attomole on column.
Keywords: APLI; Atmospheric pressure laser ionization; Derivatization; Gas chromatography; Ionization label.