Mass spectrometry is the technique in analytical chemistry for measuring molecules and atoms to determine their molecular weight. The information of such weight or mass data is once in a while adequate, much of the time essential, and constantly valuable in deciding the identity of a species. Mass spectrometry (MS) provides information regarding the molecular weight of compound or analyte and, when a combustion analysis, is performed in conjunction with relative percentages of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. This is relatively helpful in determining a molecular formula for the compound you are trying to identify.
The advantages of mass spectrometry:
- A major advantage of mass spectrometry than other technologies is that it is extremely sensitive.
- It is an exceptional technique to identify unknown components in a sample solution.
- It can work combining with other techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (LC-MS) and gas chromatography (GC-MS).
- It is a very precise, rapid and sensitive method.
- It works with very small sample quantities which are in parts per million (PPM).
- This gives the relative molecular mass of every molecule.
The disadvantages of mass spectrometry:
- The main disadvantage of mass spectrometry is that it is costly, need a skilled technician, and it is not a portable system.
- We will unable to differentiate among isomers of the molecule with the same charge-to-mass ratio.
- Chiral columns may be required to separate enantiomers.
- The disadvantages of the mass spectrophotometer are that it is not nice to recognizing hydrocarbons that generate parallel ions and is unable to separate optical and geometric isomers.
