McLafferty F W
Science. 1981 Oct 16;214(4518):280-7. doi: 10.1126/science.7280693.
Coupling mass spectrometers in series provides a new technique that has many advantages for the analysis of specific organic compounds in complex mixtures. Sensitivity to picograms of targeted compounds can be achieved with high specificity and nearly instantaneous response. The targeted compound is selectively ionized, and its characteristic ions are separated from most others of the mixture in the first mass spectrometer. The selected primary ions are then decomposed by collision, and from the resulting products the final mass analyzer selects secondary ions characteristic of the targeted compound. Tandem mass spectrometry can achieve specificities and sensitivities equivalent of those of methods such as radioimmunoassay and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, while performing analyses in much shorter times.
串联质谱仪提供了一种新技术，对于复杂混合物中特定有机化合物的分析具有诸多优势。对于皮克级的目标化合物能够实现高灵敏度、高特异性以及近乎即时的响应。目标化合物被选择性电离，其特征离子在第一台质谱仪中与混合物中的大多数其他离子分离。然后，选定的初级离子通过碰撞分解，最终质量分析器从产生的产物中选择目标化合物特有的次级离子。串联质谱法能够实现与放射免疫分析和气相色谱/质谱法等方法相当的特异性和灵敏度，同时分析时间更短。
