Deciphering Dissolved Organic Matter: Ionization, Dopant, and Fragmentation Insights via Fourier Transform-Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

Environ Sci Technol. 2020 Dec 15;54(24):16249-16259. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c05206. Epub 2020 Nov 19.

Abstract

Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been increasingly employed to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) across a range of aquatic environments highlighting the role of DOM in global carbon cycling. DOM analysis commonly utilizes electrospray ionization (ESI), while some have implemented other techniques, including dopant-assisted atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI). We compared various extracted DOM compositions analyzed by negative ESI and positive APPI doped with both toluene and tetrahydrofuran (THF), including a fragmentation study of THF-doped riverine DOM using infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD). DOM compositions followed the same trends in ESI and dopant-assisted APPI with the latter presenting saturated, less oxygenated, and more N-containing compounds than ESI. Between the APPI dopants, THF-doping yielded spectra with more aliphatic-like and N-containing compounds than toluene-doping. We further demonstrate how fragmentation of THF-doped DOM in APPI resolved subtle differences between riverine DOM that was absent from ESI. In both ionization methods, we describe a linear relationship between atomic and formulaic N-compositions from a range of DOM extracts. This study highlights that THF-doped APPI is useful for uncovering low-intensity aliphatic and peptide-like components in autochthonous DOM, which could aid environmental assessments of DOM across biolability gradients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Atmospheric Pressure*
  • Cyclotrons*
  • Fourier Analysis
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization