How to Couple LC-IRMS with HRMS-A Proof-of-Concept Study

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) is a unique analytical technique for determining small variations in isotope ratios of light isotopes in analytes from complex mixtures. A problem of CSIA using gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LC-IRMS) is that any structural information of the analytes is lost due to the processes involved in determining the isotope ratio. To obtain the isotopic composition of, for example, carbon from organic compounds, all carbon in each analyte is quantitatively converted to CO2. For GC-IRMS, open split GC-IRMS-MS couplings have been described that allow additional acquisition of structural information of analytes and interferences. Structural analysis using LC-IRMS is more difficult and requires additional technical and instrumental efforts. In this study, LC was combined for the first time with simultaneous analysis by IRMS and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), enabling the direct identification of unknown or coeluting species. We have thoroughly investigated and optimized the coupling and showed how technical problems, arising from instrumental conditions, can be overcome. To this end, it was successfully demonstrated that a consistent split ratio between IRMS and HRMS could be obtained using a variable postcolumn flow splitter. This coupling provided reproducible results in terms of resulting peak areas, isotope values, and retention time differences for the two mass spectrometer systems. To demonstrate the applicability of the coupling, we chose to address an important question regarding the purity of international isotope standards. In this context, we were able to confirm that the USGS41 reference material indeed contains substantial amounts of pyroglutamic acid as suggested previously in the literature. Moreover, the replacement material, USGS41a, still has significant amounts of pyroglutamic acid as impurity, rendering some caution necessary when using this material for isotopic calibration.

Automated summary

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) is a valuable technique for determining small variations in isotopes in complex mixtures, but may lose structural information. The combination of LC with IRMS and HRMS allows for direct identification of unknown species, but technical challenges must be overcome.