Investigation of ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography/travelling‐wave ion mobility/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry for fast profiling of fatty acids in the high Arctic sea surface microlayer

• Published in: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry 2018-06, Vol.32 (12), p.942-950
• Main Authors: Mashayekhy Rad, Farshid, Leck, Caroline, Ilag, Leopold L., Nilsson, Ulrika
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Analytical Chemistry; analytisk kemi; Arctic; Atmospheric aerosols; Chromatography; Condensation nuclei; Fatty acids; Fog; Ion mobility MS; Ionic mobility; Ions; Mass spectrometry; Noise reduction; Ocean surface; Scientific imaging; sea surface microlayer; Spectroscopy; TWIMS
• ISSN: 0951-4198; 1097-0231; 1097-0231
• DOI: 10.1002/rcm.8109

Rationale Fatty acids are enriched in the ocean surface microlayer (SML) and have as a consequence been detected worldwide in sea spray aerosols. In searching for a relationship between the properties of the atmospheric aerosol and its ability to form cloud condensation nuclei and to promote cloud droplet formation over remote marine areas, the role of surface active fatty acids sourced from the SML is of interest to be investigated. Here we present a fast method for profiling of major fatty acids in SML samples collected in the high Arctic (89°N, 1°W) in the summer of 2001. Methods Ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/travelling‐wave ion mobility spectrometry (TWIMS)/time‐of‐flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) for profiling was evaluated and compared with UHPLC/TOFMS. Except for evaporation and centrifugation, no sample preparation was necessary prior to the analysis. Results TOFMS data on accurate mass, isotopic ratios and fragmentation patterns enabled identification of the fatty acids. The TWIMS dimension added to the selectivity by extensive reduction of the noise level and the entire UHPLC/TWIMS/TOFMS method provided a fast profiling of the acids, ranging from C8 to C24. Hexadecanoic and octadecanoic acids were shown to yield the highest signals among the FAs detected in a high Arctic SML sample, followed by the unsaturated octadecenoic and octadecadienoic acids. The predominance of signal from even‐numbered carbon chains indicates a mainly biogenic origin of the detected FAs. Conclusions This study presents a fast alternative method for screening and profiling of FAs, which has the advantage of not requiring any complicated sample preparation, thus limiting the loss of analytes. Almost no manual handling, together with the very small sample volumes needed, is certainly beneficial for the determination of trace amounts and should open up the field of applications to also include atmospheric aerosol and fog.