Determination of anabolic steroids with gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry using hydrogen as carrier gas.
Helium is considered to be the ideal carrier gas for gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in general, and for use with an ion trap in particular. Helium is an inert gas, can be used without special precautions for security and, moreover, it is needed as a damping gas in the trap. A disadvantage of helium is the high viscosity resulting in long GC run times. In this work hydrogen was tested as an alternative carrier gas for GC in performing GC/MS analyses. A hydrogen generator was used as a safe source of hydrogen gas. It is demonstrated that hydrogen can be used as a carrier gas for the gas chromatograph in combination with helium as make-up gas for the trap. The analysis time was thus shortened and the chromatographic performance was optimized. Although hydrogen has proven useful as a carrier gas in gas chromatography coupled to standard detectors such as ECD or FID, its use is not mentioned extensively in the literature concerning gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry. However, it is worth considering as a possibility because of its chromatographic advantages and its advantageous price when using a hydrogen generator.
Impens
S
S
Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. sandra.impens@rug.ac.be
De Wasch
K
K
De Brabander
H
H
D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006859:Hydrogen; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D012015:Reference Standards; D012996:Solutions
D045930:Anabolic Agents; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D012996:Solutions; D006859:Hydrogen