Author: advioninc

“We have the expression linked to an HPLC instrument and it is used as an open access system. The combination of UV purity data along with MS confirmation is incredibly powerful for our chemists. The instrument is networked so our chemists can then process and review data from their desks.”

The scientific investigation of cultural heritage objects is the only access to knowledge about long-gone, ancient societies and their cultural, technological as well as their social  stage of development. In addition, the materials used by our ancestors, e.g. their textiles and the organic dyestuff to colorize these materials, allow researchers to draw some conclusions about cultural exchanges and trading routes. But in-depth knowledge about materials and dyestuff is also of highest importance for proper conservation and restauration of these materials. Specimens, however, are rare and available only in minute amounts. For their investigation preferentially non-destructive or at least minimal invasive methods have to be used.

The cannabinoid makeup of cannabis has significantly changed over the past few decades. Efforts to increase the psychotropic effects of cannabis have resulted in a THC content for current strains of the crop of 30 to 40 percent compared with only 5 percent 30 years ago. Up-regulating the THC content of the plant causes a loss of other cannabinoids the plant is producing. Some of these other cannabinoids, such as CBD, are believed to be responsible for its medical benefits.

Plate ExpressTM is a device that provides a simple, automated means of obtaining mass spectra directly from TLC plates, creating a technique known as TLC/MS. Combined with Advion’s expression® compact mass spectrometer (CMS) this becomes TLC/CMS. Using this technique chemists can quickly and confidently identify products even in complex mixtures without additional sample preparation.

Natural products, the underlying active components and their use in traditional medicine are of increased interest in the field of pharmaceutical research. The naturally occurring active ingredients are ideal chemical starting structures to improve upon in the  pharmaceutical drug development process and consequently half of all currently approved  drugs in the US are based on natural products. It is therefore not surprising that natural product analysis is a field of major interest world wide. Here, we present a simple example  of the added benefits of mass spectrometry in typical natural product analysis workflows based on an alcoholic extract of nutmeg.

This application note presents an online thin-layer chromatography (TLC)/CMS technique using the Advion expression compact mass spectrometer (CMS) and Plate ExpressTM interface to provide compound structural information without sample preparation after TLC separation. A Suzuki reaction for the synthesis of 4-aminobiphenyl will be demonstrated. The online TLC/CMS technique provides rapid and accurate determination of reaction mixture components without the need for off-line TLC sample preparation procedures.