Reconstructed Mass Spectra, A Novel Approach for the Utilization of Gas Chromatograph—Mass Spectrometer Data

Abstract Peak profile analysis of each of the few hundred mass chromatograms generated during a complete GC-MS experiment identifies all m/e values which maximize at any of the few hundred consecutive mass spectra recorded during the gas chromatogram. The resulting sets of data correspond to the mass spectrum of each eluting component (even very minor ones) practically free of the contributions of unresolved companion substances, tailing fractions, column bleed, etc. These “reconstructed mass spectra” are therefore more easily interpreted or automatically identified than the mass spectra originally recorded. A plot of the summed abundance of the ions that maximize at a given spectrum index number (“mass resolved gas chromatogram”) results in a gas chromatogram of dramatically improved apparent resolution.