Molecular formulas have been assigned for 4626 individual Suwannee River fulvic acids based on accurate mass measurements from ions generated by electrospray ionization and observed by ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS). Formula assignments were possible because of the mass accuracy of FTICR MS at high field (9.4 T) and the regular mass spacing patterns found in fulvic acid mixtures. Sorting the 4626 individually observed ions according to Kendrick mass defect and nominal mass series (z* score) revealed that all could be assigned to 1 of 266 distinct homologous series that differ in oxygen content and double bond equivalence. Tandem mass spectrometry based on infrared multiphoton dissociation identified labile fragments of fulvic acid molecules, whose chemical formulas led to plausible structures consistent with degraded lignin as a source of Suwannee River fulvic acids.
Electrospray ionization (ESI) was combined with ultra-high-resolution Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS) to characterize complex humic and fulvic acid mixtures. Lower than expected molecular weight distributions previously observed for humics when analyzed by ESI-MS have fueled speculation about a bias in favor of low molecular weight. Multiply charged ions, ionization suppression, and sample fragmentation have all been suggested as sources of this low molecular weight bias. In this work, resolution of the individual components of humic mixtures within a 1 mass-to-charge unit window was accomplished by FTICR MS at 9.4 T. At mass resolving powers between 60,000 (high mass) and 120,000 (low mass), it was possible to determine that virtually all ions present in spectra of Suwannee River fulvic and humic acid are singly charged, thus eliminating inadequate accounting for multiply charged ions as a primary source of any low molecular weight bias. The high-resolution mass spectra also revealed the presence of molecular families containing ions that differ from each other in degree of saturation, functional group substitution (primarily CH vs N and CH4 vs O), and number of CH2 groups. Ionization suppression and ion fragmentation were addressed for humic and fulvic acid mixtures and well-characterized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) mixtures with average molecular weights of 8000 and 10,000. Although these high molecular weight PEG mixtures fragment extensively under traditional positive-ion mode ESI conditions, similar fragmentation could not be confirmed for humic and fulvic acid mixtures.
Humic substances and related material commonly grouped under the designation of natural organic matter (NOM) are of interest in fields ranging from marine chemistry and geochemistry to industry, agriculture, and pharmacology. High-field Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry enables resolution and identification of elemental compositions of up to thousands of components from a single mass spectrum. Here, we introduce an offline prefractionation to reduce the number of species of the same nominal (nearest-integer) mass, allowing for isolation of ions of one or a few m/z values, from which structural information can be obtained by low-resolution multistage tandem mass spectrometry (MS(n)). Alternatively, precharacterized fractions can be generated for other types of analysis. As an example, we demonstrate significant reduction of isomeric and isobaric complexity for Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA). The combined MS and MS(n) analyses support the hypothesis that early eluting material comprises older, highly oxidized SRFA, whereas later eluting material is younger, retaining some similarity with precursor material.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.