SBIR-STTR Award

The overall objectives of the proposed research are to develop a simplified, inexpensive mass selective detector for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and to demonstrate the utility of this system for solution of significant biomedical problems. Specific objectives of this Phase I project include development of an efficient and reliable LC-MS interface suitable for use with smaller bore LC columns, development of simplified vacuum systems for LC-MS, and evaluation of alternative technologies for the mass analyzer and data system. Results from these studies will be applied in a future Phase II project to the development and evaluation of a system that will allow mass spectrometry to be employed routinely as both a highly specific and nearly universal detector for HPLC. The resulting instrumentation will provide important new capabilities for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of biological substances and will be applicable to many areas of both basic and clinical research.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

The objectives of the proposed research are to develop simplified, inexpensive detectors for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) an super-critical fluid chromatography (SFC) and to demonstrate the utility o these new detectors for solution of significant biomedical problems. Specific objectives include extension of the successful "Thermospray" approach to lower mass flows such as are involved in capillary and microbore LC and in SFC, coupled with additional basic studies of the processes involved in thermospray. The latter studies are aimed at achieving improved performance over the entire range of useful flow rates ranging from submicroliter/min for capillary LC to the mL/min flows used i conventional packed column LC. Emphasis will also be placed on improving the structural information available from LC-MS. Techniques proposed include conventional EI with thermospray vaporization, and a new technique for electron impact dissociation of ions formed directly by thermospray. These fundamental advances will be combined with simplified vacuum technology and improved automatic control of the integrated LC-MS system t provide simple, reliable mass selective detectors which are acceptable for use in the chromatography laboratory. The utility of this new instrumentation will be demonstrated by application to selected biomedical problems.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)