ELEMENT- AND ISOTOPE-SPECIFIC DETECTION FOR HPLC

THE LONG-TERM AIMS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO CREATE AND COMMERCIALIZE A NEW FAMILY OF INTERFACES BETWEEN CHROMATOGRAPHY AND MASS SPECTROMETRY THAT PROVIDE MULTICHANNEL ELEMENT-AND ISOTOPE-SELECTIVE DETECTION CAPABILITIES. THE APPROACH IS BASED ON COUPLING A NEW THERMOSPRAY "UNIVERSAL INTERFACE" DEVELOPED AT VESTEC CORPORATION WITH A MICROWAVE-POWERED REACTION INTERFACE. THE THERMOSPRAY INTERFACE VAPORIZES THE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY SOLVENT AND EFFICIENTLY REMOVES THE SOLVENT VAPOR WHILE TRANSMITTING MOST OF THE RELATIVELY NONVOLATILE SOLUTES AS AN AEROSOL IN DRY HELIUM OR OTHER SUITABLE CARRIER. THE REACTION INTERFACE WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED TOACCEPT GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC EFFLUENTS, BUT BECAUSE THE THERMOSPRAY DEVICE GENERATES A SAMPLE STREAM FROM HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY THAT IS SIMILAR IN MANY RESPECTS TO THAT FROM GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY, EFFICIENT COUPLING OF THESE TWO INTERFACES APPEARS FEASIBLE. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE A NEW FAMILY OF ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES WITH UNIQUE CAPABILITIES FOR MANY BIOCHEMICAL, PHARMACOLOGICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS.