title: Mass spectrometry of natural organic phosphorus.
abstract: This article provides a review of the use of modern mass spectrometry (MS) for quantitative and qualitative measurements of organic phosphorus compounds in nature. Included is a brief discussion of recent developments in large molecule mass spectrometry, focusing on time-of-flight (TOF) and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass analysis techniques, as well as electrospray (ESI) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) ionization. The use of ICP with high-resolution mass spectrometry for quantitative measurements of total phosphorus and as a detector coupled to HPLC and CE for defining organic phosphorus speciation is demonstrated using results from a study of phosphorus cycling in a treatment wetland. Qualitative identifications of individual phosphorus compounds by ultrahigh resolution Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) is demonstrated using dissolved organic phosphorus isolated from this same wetland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4390, USA. cooper@chem.fsu.edu
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Llewelyn
authors.forename: G Lee
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Vincent J M
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Salters