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Determination of the concentration of nitrogenous bio-organic compounds using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer operating in continuous flow mode

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Abstract

The quality of the determination of compound-specific isotopic content at natural abundance by gas chromatography–isotope ratio measurement–mass spectrometry (GC-irm-MS) relies on the stability of the voltage generated by the ion detector Faraday cages. The application of GC-irm-MS to the determination of δ13C (‰) and δ15N (‰) is now routine. However, for numerous applications, it is necessary to determine both the isotope content (δ15N) and the quantity (in micromoles) of analyte present. We now show that it is possible for nitrogen-containing compounds to measure how much analyte is present with an irm mass spectrometer linked to a GC by exploiting the integrated N2 total ion current intensity (Vs) generated by measuring the 15N/14N isotope ratio. The method is validated over a range of concentration (2–70 mmol/L) and δ15N (−70 to +50‰) values for six molecules of diverse chemical nature and functionality (nortropine, norpseudotropine, nortropinone, cysteine, taurine, glutathione). It is shown that once the ion current is calibrated, the quantitative values are of a comparable quality to those obtained from GC with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). In addition, it is demonstrated that over a definable range, the δ15N (‰) value is independent of the quantity of analyte introduced, confirming the validity of this method.

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Acknowledgments

We are most grateful to our colleague, Gerald Remaud, for critical comments on this manuscript and to Carol Wrigglesworth (Scientific English, Nantes) for linguistic corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elucidation of Biosynthesis by Isotopic Spectrometry Group, Unit for Interdisciplinary Chemistry: Synthesis-Analysis-Modelling (CEISAM), University of Nantes–CNRS UMR6230, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 92208, 44322, Nantes Cedex, France

    Illa Tea, Katarzyna Kosieradzka, Ingrid Antheaume, Emmanuel Gentil & Richard J. Robins

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  1. Illa Tea
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  2. Katarzyna Kosieradzka
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  3. Ingrid Antheaume
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  4. Emmanuel Gentil
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  5. Richard J. Robins
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Correspondence to Emmanuel Gentil.

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Tea, I., Kosieradzka, K., Antheaume, I. et al. Determination of the concentration of nitrogenous bio-organic compounds using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer operating in continuous flow mode. Anal Bioanal Chem 401, 1263–1271 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5182-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-011-5182-1

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