Chemical Reaction Interface Mass Spectrometry (CRIMS)

Scientific Instrument Services is currently developing both GC and LC CRIMS systems. These products are based on the work and methods of Fred Abramson of George Washington University. The GC CRIMS system has been built and is currently being tested in our laboratory. The GC-CRIMS systems will be introduced at the EAS meeting in Somerset, NJ in November and will available for delivery this fall. Over the next few months we will be assembling a LC-CRIMS system which will be introduced at PittCon in March 1998 and is scheduled for shipment in late Summer 1998. These systems will be available as full GCMS or LCMS Systems based on the new HP 5973 MSD.

For additional information please contact Scientific Instrument Services at (908) 788-5550.

Description of CRIMS

Chemical Reaction Interface/Mass Spectrometry is a selective, sensitive, and versatile technique by which specific isotopes or elements can be monitored. CRIMS parallels the use of radioisotopes in that each technique monitors for elemental tags that are independent of the tags chemical structure or environment. In the CRIMS technique chromatography effluent is introduced into a high-temperature microwave plasma. The analyte molecules are decomposed and then reacted with a specific reactant gas. This results in a small number of well characterized polyatomic products. These compounds are then detected by mass spectrometry. The generation of new small compounds reduces the possibility of interference from isotopologs and eliminates the large isotopic mass profiles found in larger molecules. The isotope ratios measured in CRIMS can easily be used to identify and quantify the presence of isotope tags. A chromatogram showing only enriched species can therefore be produced. CRIMS has the important advantage that stable isotopes may be used as tags. This eliminates the use of radioactive material and greatly expands the possible applications of isotopic labeling. These applications can be found in pharmacology, geology, and environmental science. The limit of detection for radio labeled material is better with GC-CRIMS than by on-line radio-chromatography. CRIMS references and a review can be found here.

Bibliography and References

Applications

For more information please contact Scientific Instrument Services, Inc. (908) 788-5550

Additional Keywords:

isotopic labeling enrichment chemical tags tracers metabolism petroleum degradation radiotracers radioisotopes

Name:		Organization/Country:
Email:		Phone/fax: