Mass Spectrometry

Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy

The coupling of MS to chromatographic techniques has always been desirable thanks to the sensitive and highly specific nature of MS compared to other chromatographic detectors. Working with a combination of gas chromatography to MS (GC-MS) was achieved by the early 1950s with the availability of commercial instruments from the 1970s. These days cheap and reliable GC-MS systems are available in the many clinical biochemistry laboratories and are indispensable in several fields where the analysis of complex mixtures and unambiguous identification is required e.g., screening biological samples such as urine samples for inborn errors of metabolism or drugs.