New Dimensions in Isotope Ratio MS Using ESI-FT Technology

 New Dimensions in Isotope Ratio MS Using ESI-FT Technology

by Dieter Juchelka, Senior Product Specialist, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Nils Kuhlbusch, R&D Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific

Isotope ratio analysis delivers unique insights into the natural processes all around us. The highly valuable approach allows actions that take place on the atomic level to be related to effects on much larger scales. Many fields currently benefit from isotope ratio analysis, including biochemistry, paleoclimate reconstruction and food authenticity, as the method determines subtle isotopic variations in a sample. These variations enable detailed information on past and present events to be ascertained. Key to unlocking this information, however, is measuring the isotope ratios with high precision.

Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) using electron impact ionization and magnetic sector instruments is the current gold standard for isotope ratio analysis. Fundamentally, it determines the isotope ratios after the analyte has been converted into a low molecular weight gas (e.g., CO2, SO2, or N2) by combustion, pyrolysis, microbial fermentation or chemical treatment. All the isotope information is obtained in very few signals, giving a high precision analysis. But crucially, intramolecular isotopic information is lost, leaving important compositional questions unanswered.

New isotope ratio methodology can overcome this limitation and answer challenging questions in isotope ratio analysis.

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