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© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
G. Sindona et al. (eds.), Toxic Chemical and Biological Agents, NATO Science
for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-2041-8_5
Chapter 5
Direct Mass Spectrometry as a Practical
Analytical Strategy for High Speed, High
Throughput Testing
Mark W. Duncan
Abstract Thanks to the development of new methods and the ongoing evolution of
existing approaches, there are now over thirty different ambient ionization or direct
mass spectrometry (D-MS) sample introduction/ionization strategies. A critical
question, however, is whether these techniques can generate faster, yet comparable
results to those obtained through the application of more conventional mass spectrometric techniques. This chapter discusses the strengths and weaknesses of conventional chromatography-mass spectrometry combinations (e.g., GC-MS(/MS) and
LC- MS(/MS)), introduces and presents the benefits of D-MS approaches, and illustrates the practical potential of these strategies by way of specific example
applications.
Keywords Direct mass spectrometry · Ambient mass spectrometry ·
Quantification · Direct in real time (DART) mass spectrometry · Direct
electrospray ionization (DESI) mass spectrometry
5.1 Introduction
For many applications, the marriage of a separation technology (for example, gas
chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC))) with mass spectrometry
(MS) is a powerful, if not the ideal analytical strategy. Typically, the system is comprised of a GC or LC chromatograph interface directly to a mass spectrometer. (See
Fig. 5.1.)
M. W. Duncan (*)
Target Discovery, Inc, Mountain View, CA, USA
e-mail: mark_duncan@targetdiscovery.com