RATIONALE
There is critical need for instrument calibration and correction procedures that can improve the quality of mass spectral quantitative results. Currently, mass spectrometry (MS) technologies suffer from certain biases related to instrumental responses, which tend to restrict its application. To overcome these biases, we developed the PROgressive SAmple Dosage (PROSAD) platform and tested it.
METHODS
PROSAD, an optimized sample preparation and data analysis method, is used in conjunction with a liquid chromatography (LC)/MS system and a low‐voltage ionization source (e.g., no‐discharge atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (ND‐APCI)). The mass spectrometers used for this report were an HCT Ultra ion trap, a LTQ XL Orbitrap, and a TSQ Vantage triple‐stage quadrupole. The PROSAD elaborative system, because of its dedicated mathematical algorithm, provided a dynamic linear calibration check and correction.
RESULTS
We tested PROSAD using a leucomalachite green‐fish homogenate assay. Atrazine in tea matrix samples were also quantified. Better quantification was achieved using PROSAD compared with the classic linear, static calibration procedure in both test cases.
CONCLUSIONS
PROSAD provides a dynamically optimized calibration curve that affords increased stability, accuracy, and precision for the quantification of MS data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.