Analysis of environmental organic matters by Ultrahigh-Resolution mass spectrometry—A review on the development of analytical methods

Sungjune Kim, Donghwi Kim, Maeng Joon Jung, Sunghwan Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Owing to the increasing environmental and climate changes globally, there is an increasing interest in the molecular-level understanding of environmental organic compound mixtures, that is, the pursuit of complete and detailed knowledge of the chemical compositions and related chemical reactions. Environmental organic molecule mixtures, including those in air, soil, rivers, and oceans, have extremely complex and heterogeneous chemical compositions. For their analyses, ultrahigh-resolution and sub-ppb level mass accuracy, achievable using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), are important. FT-ICR MS has been successfully used to analyze complex environmental organic molecule mixtures such as natural, soil, particulate, and dissolved organic matter. Despite its success, many limitations still need to be overcome. Sample preparation, ionization, structural identification, chromatographic separation, and data interpretation are some key areas that have been the focus of numerous studies. This review describes key developments in analytical techniques in these areas to aid researchers seeking to start or continue investigations for the molecular-level understanding of environmental organic compound mixtures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)352-369
Number of pages18
JournalMass Spectrometry Reviews
Volume41
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2022

Keywords

  • mass spectrometry
  • molecule
  • organic matter
  • ultrahigh-resolution

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