Search

Significant efforts are being made to develop more practical and versatile approaches for the preconcentration and purification of complex chemical samples. Inspired by the naturally occurring enrichment of organic compounds in sea aerosols, in this study we demonstrate the potential of induced bubble bursting as an approach for the preconcentration of organic solutes in various aqueous solutions. Apart from the preconcentration of organics, notable decrease in the concentration of metal salt components was discovered for the first time. On the basis of a series of model experiments, the phenomenon has been attributed to intermolecular competition at the surface interface of rising bubbles. Overall, our results indicate the high versatility and simplicity of the bubble bursting approach for the simultaneous preconcentration and desalting of organic solutes in aqueous solutions for mass spectrometry, chromatography, optical detection, and other fields of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of enzymatic reactions occurring in untreated biological samples is of increasing interest Herein, the chemical conversion of alliin to allidn, catalyzed by allinase, in raw garlic cloves has been followed in vivo by internal extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (iEESI-MS). Both precursors and products of the enzymatic reaction were instantaneously extracted by infosed solution running throughout the tissue and directly electrospray ionized on the edge of the bulk sample for online MS analysis. Compared to the room-temperature (+25 °C) scenario, the alliin conversion in garlic cloves decreased by (7.2 ± 1.4) times upon heating to +80 °C and by (5.9 ± 0.8) times upon cooling to -16 °C. Exposure of garlic to gentle ultrasound irradiation for 3 h accelerated the reaction by (1.2 ± 0.1) times. A 10 s microwave irradiation promoted alliin conversion by (1.6 ± 0.4) times, but longer exposure to microwave irradiation (90 s) slowed the reaction by (28.5 ± 7.5) times compared to the reference analysis. This method has been further employed to monitor the germination process of garlic. These data revealed that over a 2 day garlic sprouting, the allidn/alliin ratio increased by (2.2 ± 0.5) times, and the averaged degree of polymerization for the detected oligosaccharides/polysaccharides decreased from 11.6 to 9.4. Overall, these findings suggest the potential use of iEESI-MS for in vivo studies of enzymatic reactions in native biological matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented for the article "Detection of Diethyl Phthalate in Perfumes by Extractive Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry," which is in volume 81 of a 2009 issue of this journal.

Ionization of proteins and noncovalent protein complexes with minimal disturbance to their native structure presents a great challenge for biological mass spectrometry (MS). In living organisms, the native structure of intracellular proteins is commonly stabilized by solute amino acids (AAs) accumulated in cells at very high concentrations. Inspired by nature, we hypothesized that AAs could also pose a stabilizing effect on the native structure of proteins and noncovalent protein complexes during ionization. To test this hypothesis, here we explored MS response for various protein complexes upon the addition of free AAs at mM concentrations into the electrospray ionization (ESI) solution. Thermal activation of ESI droplets in the MS inlet capillary was employed as a model destabilizing factor during ionization. Our results indicate that certain AAs, in particular proline (Pro), pose considerable positive effect on the stability of noncovalent protein complexes in ESI-MS without affecting the signal intensity of protein ions and original protein-ligand equilibrium, even when added at the 20 mM concentration. The data suggest that the degree of protein stabilization is primarily determined by the osmolytic and ampholytic characteristics of AA solutes. The highest stability and visibility of noncovalent protein complexes in ESI-MS are achieved using AA additives with neutral isoelectric point, moderate proton affinity, and unfavorable interaction with the native protein state. Overall, our results indicate that the simple addition of free amino acids into the working solution can notably improve the stability and accuracy of protein analysis by native ESI-MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method based on ultrasound-assisted EESI-MS has been developed and applied to rapidly detect the presence of melamine in raw milk, wheat gluten and milk powder with no or minor sample pre-treatment; the high sample throughput and figures of merit make it specially useful for screening melamine levels well below the current safety limit in various food matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method based on ultrasound-assisted EESI-MS has been developed and applied to rapidly detect the presence of melamine in raw milk, wheat gluten and milk powder with no or minor sample pre-treatment; the high sample throughput and figures of merit make it specially useful for screening melamine levels well below the current safety limit in various food matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]