Data independent acquisition for gas chromatographic MS/MS analysis of volatile compounds

Abstract

This study presents a novel tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) approach utilizing a data independent acquisition (DIA) concept specifically designed with gas chromatography-electron ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-EI-QqQMS). This allows compound identification based on comparison between all the experimental MS/MS product ion spectra and the simulated library data of >1,000 MS/MS transitions of 71 compounds. The simulation data were generated by using the Competitive Fragmentation Modeling (CFM-ID) 3.0 program. The approach for calculation of the DIA MS/MS library match scores was then established and applied for identification of a range of terpenoids and oxygenated compounds in perfume. The identity of each peak was confirmed using 4-241 MS/MS transitions. The established data collection and analysis methods are expected to be useful for increased confidence in volatile compound analysis.

Keywords: DIA-based MS/MS analysis on GC (DIMS/MS); Improved compound identification; Tandem mass spectrometry approach; Untargeted GC−MS/MS analysis; Volatile compound analysis.