Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry selected ion monitoring and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry selected reaction monitoring analyses of mono‐, di‐ and tri‐unsaturated C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid alkene biomarkers in sea ice and sediment samples: A comparative study

Abstract

RationaleThe efficiency of selected ion monitoring (SIM) and selected reaction monitoring (SRM) analyses for the quantification of three mono‐, di‐ and tri‐unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes (IP25, IPSO25 and HBI III, respectively), often used as proxies for the occurrence of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice or the adjacent open waters, was compared.MethodsGas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS)/SIM and GC/MS/MS/SRM analyses were carried out on dilute solutions made from purified standards of these three HBIs, and then on hydrocarbon fractions of several sediment and sea ice sample extracts. More efficient and specific SRM transitions were selected after collision‐induced dissociation of each precursor ion at different collision energies.ResultsSRM analysis avoided any overestimation of IP25 resulting from the contribution of the coeluting 13C mass isotopomer of IPSO25 (M+˙ + 2) to the SIM target ion. In contrast, SRM analysis is less reliable for IPSO25 quantification in cases where several regio‐isomers are present, likely due to intense double bond migrations following electron impact. In the case of HBI III, SRM analysis constitutes a potentially suitable alternative to SIM analysis, especially in terms of improving limit of detection.ConclusionsDespite the intense migrations of HBI double bonds under electron ionization, the selected SRM transitions should be more suitable than SIM target ions for IP25 and HBI III quantification in complex hydrocarbon fractions of natural samples. However, the advantage is less evident for IPSO25 due to the presence of numerous regio‐isomers.