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Eur. J. Mass Spectrom. 4, 269 - 278 (1998)

Application of high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray mass/spectrometry for identification of carboxylic acids containing several carboxyl groups from aqueous solutions

Holm Frauendorf and Rainer Herzschuh
Universität Leipzig, Fakultät für Chemie und Mineralogie, Institut für Analytische Chemie, Linnéstrasse 3, D-04103 Leipzig, .

ABSTRACT:
A high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS) method has been developed for the separation and detection of a series of carboxylic acids with one or more carboxyl groups, which can be formed during air oxidation of lignite. Chromatographic separation used an RP-C18 column with a gradient of water [containing 0.01% (v/v) formic acid] and acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 0.3 mL min1. Detection by means of megaflow electrospray-MS was performed in the negative-ion mode [ESI()] at different cone voltages. The ESI() mass spectra of the carboxylic acids at a cone voltage of 20 V are characterized by the formation of [M + H]1 anions together with fragmentation by loss of CO2 and sometimes H2O. Increasing the cone voltage effects enhanced fragmentation and leads to further structural hints. Lignite-derived analytes used for these HPLC/ESI-MS investigations were enriched from aqueous solution by solid-phase extraction on ISOLUTE ENV+, a polystyrene copolymer. From fragmentation results obtained with standards, conclusions regarding the existence of a variety of carboxylic acids containing one or more carboxyl groups could be drawn. A more definitive structural elucidation is possible when these results are used in combination with data from GC/MS (after analyte derivatization).

Keywords: High-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization, lignite-derived carboxylic acids.

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