Optimization of Plasma-Assisted Desorption/Ionization-Mass Spectrometry for Analysis of Ibuprofen

In medical practice, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often used to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Ibuprofen is a well-known NSAID, analgesic, and antipyretic medication. This chemical is an active ingredient of several oral medications that are offered in tablet, gel pellet, and syrup forms and has higher efficacy, tolerance, and side effect rates than other compounds, including pyrazolone derivatives. We present a unique plasma-assisted desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (PADI-MS) approach for improving pharmaceutically important solids using an ibuprofen tablet as a model solid sample. The goal of the study is to create an innovative mass spectrometric method that could be used for quick and accurate analysis in the development of pharmaceutically relevant compounds. Sniffer tubes were used to route sample ions into a single quadrupole MS, with each acquisition lasting for 1 minute. Without any prior preparation, samples of ibuprofen tablets were directly exposed to PADI plasma for one minute at an atmosphere pressure. The approach is rapid, easy to use, and needs little to no sample preparation. In this study, the settings were improved by optimization of several parameters, such as plasma power, plasma-to-sample distance, and inner/outer flows of helium carrier gas, which were found to be 8 W, 2 mm, and 284 mL/min, respectively. The PADI-MS method provides a real-time information about structural features on the compounds. Ibuprofen tablets were used as a paradigm for pharmaceutically significant materials and direct PADI-MS analysis without a preliminary sample -treatment appeared to be successful: according to PADI-MS data a medication can be examined after one minute of plasma exposure.