Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry最新文献

Born in 1940, Jean-Francois Muller was one of the leading figures in mass spectrometry in France. In the 1980s, he understood the value of laser microprobes coupled to mass spectrometry for the study of organic and inorganic compounds. He became one of the pioneers of laser desorption/ionisation, highlighting the value of resonant ionisation coupled to mass spectrometry. Professor at the University of Metz, he created the Mass Spectrometry and Laser Chemistry Laboratory in 1983. Attentive to technological developments, he joined forces with Nicolet company in the mid-1980s to develop the first multi-wavelength Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance MS laser microprobe in 1988. He had a pioneer contribution in the development of high magnetic field mass spectrometry, which led him to work with major industrial groups. As a keen teacher and researcher, he supervised around fifty doctoral theses and is the author and co-author of almost two hundred publications. Professor emeritus in 2006, a man of great scientific culture and a member of the Lorraine Academy of Sciences, Jean-François Muller gave his last lecture on elementary particles on 14 December 2023 at Metz city hall, his adopted city. This article is a tribute to his career and traces his significant contribution and his great impact on the scientific community at the local, national and international levels.

Sourcing in chemical forensic science refers to the attribution of a sample to a specific source using a characteristic signature. It relies on the identification of chemical attribution signatures (CAS), including chemical markers such as residual synthetic precursors, impurities, reaction by-products and degradation products, or even metabolites. Undertaking CAS for chemical threat agents (CTA) can be used to provide an evidentiary link between the use of a given chemical and its precursor(s) to support forensic investigations. Organophosphorus compounds, a class of nerve agents, can be produced by different, more or less complex synthesis routes that can lead to specific CAS. Chlorpyrifos (CPF), an organophosphorus pesticide, was selected as model compound. To assess the specificity of impurity markers originated from a chemical synthesis, untargeted fingerprints of crude CPF from different synthesis pathways were analyzed as a first use-case using metabolomics-based trace discovery strategies. Seven different CPF synthesis routes were considered, and their crude mixtures were analyzed with a minimal sample preparation. Analyses were performed on a trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) coupled to liquid chromatography (LC) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Chemometrics analyses were conducted with multivariate methods to extract discriminating features (i.e., relevant impurities), annotate, and identify them. Then, unknown samples were analyzed in blind conditions without any information of the synthesis pathway employed. The aim is to validate the methodology seeking some discriminating impurities identified in the first section to attribute and classify them according to the synthesis route.

We describe a workshop that prompts chemistry students in the final 2 years of secondary school to apply their understanding of modern analytical chemistry techniques to a 'real world' example. The scenario used is that of a forensic science laboratory that has been asked to determine the structure of an illicit compound, Revisomed (methamphetamine) being sold as a revision aid, and seized by police. Over the course of an hour, the students use a combination of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, liquid chromatography (LC), high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy data to determine the structure of Revisomed from first principles. The bulk of the workshop is spent reviewing MS data and using m/z, the isotope pattern, elemental composition and product ion data to reach three plausible isomeric structures for Revisomed, which are then distinguished by NMR spectroscopy. More broadly, the workshop focusses on the use of the scientific method and the concept that 'no ideas are bad' when exploring hypotheses. We describe the structure of the workshop, and our experience delivering it to a local academy over the last 9 years.