Michael P. Balogh

Michael P. Balogh is the editor of "MS - The Practical Art," and is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the field of mass spectrometry. He is currently Principal Scientist, LC-MS Technology Development, with Waters Corp., Milford, Massachusetts, and is a member of LCGC's editorial advisory board.

The use of mass spectrometry to study biofuels is examined and the advantages and disadvantages are explored.

This column completes the multipart MS primer with a list of terms derived from common usage throughout various industries.

Part III concludes the print version of our three-part series, "A Mass Spectrometry Primer," with the glossary to follow in a fourth and final installment.

Two decades ago, MS was the preserve of experts and skilled technicians as the instrumentation required constant attention and adjustment. At that time, liquid chromatography (LC)–MS was in its infancy and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) source interfacing was just beginning. Samples requiring analysis were passed from the requesting scientist to these "experts for analysis." The samples would be analyzed, processed, and interpreted, and the results returned via a written report. Two decades later, the users and capabilities of LC–MS have changed significantly. Now mass spectrometers and LC–MS systems are ubiquitous in the analytical laboratory, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. These instruments are used by a wide variety of scientists for a diverse range of tasks, from purity screening in medicinal chemistry, to the quantification of drugs in blood and the identification of proteins for biomarker discovery. The usability of the current MS platforms has improved..

Part II of this three-part series focuses on comparing operation and performance of the most well known mass spectrometers.

Michael Balogh begins a three-part overview series, answering questions about mass spectrometers, their use and capabilities, and including links to more detailed further reading in readily available articles written for the nonspecialist.

The matter of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) came to focus at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) some eight years ago.

Recent work suggests that the practical value of hyphenated techniques is limited by difficulties inherent in achieving definitive compositional answers in general MS. This article argues that it is not impossible in certain cases.

This month, guest columnists Kind and Fiehn discuss small-molecule structure elucidation (excluding peptides) using hyphenated chromatographic techniques, mass spectrometers, and other spectroscopic detectors.