Response in Ambient Low Temperature Plasma Ionization Compared to Electrospray and Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization for Mass Spectrometry

Modern technical evolution made mass spectrometry (MS) an absolute must for analytical chemistry in terms of application range, detection limits and speed. When it comes to mass spectrometric detection, one of the critical steps is to ionize the analyte and bring it into the gas phase. Several ionization techniques were developed for this purpose among which electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) are two of the most frequently applied atmospheric pressure methods to ionize target compounds from liquid matrices or solutions. Moreover, recent efforts in the emerging field of “ambient” MS enable the applicability of newly developed atmospheric pressure techniques to solid matrices, greatly simplifying the analysis of samples with MS and anticipating, to ease the required or even leave out any sample preparation and enable analysis at ambient conditions, outside the instrument itself. These developments greatly extend the range of applications of modern mass spectrometry (MS). Ambient methods comprise many techniques; a particular prominent group is, however, the plasma-based methods. Although ambient MS is a rather new field of research, the interest in further developing the corresponding techniques and enhancing their performance is very strong due to their simplicity and often low cost of manufacturing. A precondition for improving the performance of such ion sources is a profound understanding how ionization works and which parameters determine signal response. Therefore, we review relevant compound characteristics for ionization with the two traditional methods ESI and APCI and compare those with one of the most frequently employed representatives of the plasma-based methods, i.e., low temperature plasma ionization. We present a detailed analysis in which compound characteristics are most beneficial for the response of aromatic nitrogen-containing compounds with these three methods and provide evidence that desorption characteristics appear to have the main common, general impact on signal response. In conclusion, our report provides a very useful resource to the optimization of instrumental conditions with respect to most important requirements of the three ionization techniques and, at the same time, for future developments in the field of ambient ionization.