Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometric determination of benzo[a]pyrene using a MIL-101(Fe) matrix.

A method is described for the matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF)-based determination of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) by using the metal-organic framework MIL-101(Fe) as a matrix. Following optimization of the experimental parameters, the method has a detection limit as low as 0.1 μg·L, which makes it more sensitive than previous methods for BaP analysis, and its analysis time is only 1 min. Its applicability was evaluated by analyzing sesame oil, linseed oil, camellia seed oil, and olive oil spiked with BaP at three levels (10, 1, and 0.5 μg·kg), and the recovery range was found to range from 80.0 to 114.8% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) between 3.9 and 13.7%. Graphical abstract The metal-organic framework MIL-101(Fe) was applied as a new matrix to the quantitative detection of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF).