An HPLC-ESI-QTOF method to analyze polar heteroatomic species in aviation turbine fuel via hydrophilic interaction chromatography

Aviation turbine fuel is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds. An analytical method using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with electrospray ionization and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-QTOF) was developed for the identification of heteroatomic, polar compounds in aviation turbine fuel. Although compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur functional groups are each found at low levels (<0.1 % by mass) in fuels, their presence can generate significant effects on fuel properties. The HILIC-ESI-QTOF method is a combined separation and detection technique that possesses many advantages including a fast and simple sample preparation-requiring no extraction step therefore ensuring no loss of compounds of interest-and the ability to acquire high-fidelity compound data for chemometric analysis of heteroatomic species in aviation turbine fuel. In the development of the method, it was found that the chromatographic conditions and nature of the injection sample had a significant effect on separation efficiency and repeatability. For a sample dataset optimized using a singular aviation turbine fuel, retention time shift was able to be reduced from 0.4 min to 2.0 % relative standard deviation (RSD) to approximately 0.1 min with RSD of 0.4 % using the newly developed method. In addition, a high number of untargeted molecular features (944) and targeted amines (121) were able to be identified when utilizing optimal method conditions. The specific benefits and limitations of utilizing HILIC techniques with HPLC-ESI-QTOF are also discussed herein. This new method is currently being expanded to include analysis of all heteroatoms and is being applied to real fuel sets. The results of these studies are forthcoming.

Chelator-assisted high performance liquid chromatographic separation of trivalent lanthanides and actinides

3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) can be used as a HPLC chelating agent, promoting lanthanide and trivalent actinide separation without column modifications.

Evaluation of superficially and fully porous particles for HILIC separation of lanthanide-polyaminocarboxylic species and simultaneous coupling to ESIMS and ICPMS

In this work, amide-bonded columns packed with fully porous particles (FPP) and superficially porous particles (SPP) were evaluated to separate lanthanide-polyaminocarboxylic species by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), using two model samples of interest in nuclear and other industrial applications. We assessed the gains achieved by reducing the dimensions of the columns along with the size of the FPPs to sub-2 μm and by using sub-3 μm SPP-packed columns. The FPP-packed Acquity column (100 × 2.1 mm; 1.7 μm) performed better than the SPP-packed Accucore column (150 × 2.1 mm; 2.6 μm), with a separation that was two times more efficient and three times shorter, while generating around 30% less in effluent volumes. This column was also coupled simultaneously to electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESIMS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). The instrumental set-up was performed in a conventional laboratory, by taking into account the geometrical constraints existing in the laboratory dedicated to radioelement analysis. Furthermore, separation of the series of lanthanide (Ln) species was demonstrated for the first time thanks to the separation mode of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography.

A review on the mass spectrometric studies of americium: Present status and future perspective

The manuscript reviews the various mass spectrometric techniques for analysis and chemical studies of Americium. These methods include thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), and inductively coupled plasma source mass spectrometry (ICPMS) for the determination of Am isotope ratios and concentration in nuclear fuel samples of interest in nuclear technology, and in complex biological and environmental samples. Ultra-sensitive mass spectrometric techniques of resonance-ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS), and accelerator-based mass spectrometry (AMS) are also discussed. The novel applications of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS) to understand the solution chemistry of Am and other actinides are presented. These studies are important in view of the world-wide efforts to develop novel complexing agents to separate lanthanides and minor actinides (Am, Np, and Cm) for partitioning and transmutation of minor actinides from the point of view of nuclear waste management. These mass spectrometry experiments are also of great interest to examine the covalent character of actinides with increasing atomic number. Studies on gas-phase chemistry of Am and its oxides with Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry (KEMS), Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS), and laser-based experiments with reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (R-ToF) are highlighted. These studies are important to understand the fundamental chemistry of 5f electrons in actinides. Requirement of certified isotopic reference materials of Am to improve the accuracy of experimental nuclear data (e.g., the half-life of ²⁴³ Am) is emphasized. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev.