A Comparative Evaluation of Continuous Flow FAB and Ionspray Ionization Techniques for the Simultaneous Determination of Alkyltrimethylammonium Surfactants by Mass Spectrometry

This study compares the performances of two mass spectrometric ionization techniques, i.e. fast atom bombardment (FAB) and ion spray ionization (ISI), in the simultaneous quantitation of dodecyl-, tetradecyl- and hexadecyltrimethylammonium halides in aqueous media. Continuous flow FAB and flow injection analysis (FIA)-ISI, both in selected ion monitoring and selected reaction monitoring modes, were evaluated. Quantitation was performed by dilution with deuterium labelled homologues synthesized by a simple procedure. A comparison of the data indicated FIA-ISI as the more sensitive (limit of detection = 10 ppb). Good linearity, precision and accuracy were obtained by the tested techniques in the concentration range 0.125-4.0 ng ?L-1. Hair softeners, commercial surfactant mixtures and hematology lysing reagents were used as test samples.