High-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry: state of the art for the drug analysis laboratory.

The combination of HPLC and mass spectrometry has great promise for the toxicology laboratory. In the past five years, significant progress has been made toward producing a reliable interface for these techniques. Thermospray, liquid ion evaporation, ion-spray, and the particle beam separator are all viable "second generation" approaches with significant advantages and disadvantages. I review the operation of these interfaces with an orientation to their use in the drug analysis laboratory. Thermospray, ion-spray, and liquid ion evaporation primarily supply information about molecular mass. The benefits and limitations of using tandem mass spectrometry to obtain additional structural information will also be discussed.