Definitions of terms relating to mass spectrometry (IUPAC Recommendations 2013)

Abstract

This document contains recommendations for terminology in mass spectrometry. Development of standard terms dates back to 1974 when the IUPAC Commission on Analytical Nomenclature issued recommendations on mass spectrometry terms and definitions. In 1978, the IUPAC Commission on Molecular Structure and Spectroscopy updated and extended the recommendations and made further recommendations regarding symbols, acronyms, and abbreviations. The IUPAC Physical Chemistry Division Commission on Molecular Structure and Spectroscopy's Subcommittee on Mass Spectroscopy revised the recommended terms in 1991 and appended terms relating to vacuum technology. Some additional terms related to tandem mass spectrometry were added in 1993 and accelerator mass spectrometry in 1994. Owing to the rapid expansion of the field in the intervening years, particularly in mass spectrometry of biomolecules, a further revision of the recommendations has become necessary. This document contains a comprehensive revision of mass spectrometry terminology that represents the current consensus of the mass spectrometry community.

Advanced LC–MS-based methods to study the co-occurrence and metabolization of multiple mycotoxins in cereals and cereal-based food

“…In HRMS the resolution should typically be greater than 10,000 for the entire mass range (according to the 10% valley definition [30]). In the full scan, the presence of all diagnostic ions (protonated and deprotonated molecules, characteristic fragment ions, and isotope ions) with a relative intensity of more than 10% in the reference spectrum of the calibration standard is obligatory.…”

A compact PTR-ToF-MS instrument for airborne measurements of volatile organic compounds at high spatiotemporal resolution

“…Only on rare occasions has full mass spectral information been acquired at the expense of lower time resolution (e.g., Williams et al, 2001). QMS-based instruments are also not capable of distinguishing isobaric ions, i.e., ions with the same nominal mass but different exact masses (Murray et al, 2013), which often limits the specificity of the measurement. Prominent examples include protonated formic acid (CH 3 O + 2 ) and protonated ethanol (C 2 H 7 O + ), both detected at m/z 47, and protonated isoprene (C 5 H + 9 ) and protonated furan (C 4 H 5 O + ), both detected at m/z 69.…”

Non-targeted Tracer Fate Detection

“…Isotopomers Isotopomers are isotopologues with the same isotopic substituents but in varying positions [24]. For example, [1- 13 MID The mass isotopomer distribution (MID) is the relative abundance of the different mass isotopomers of a molecule.…”