Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry interface for detection of extraterrestrial organics

Southard, Adrian; Getty, Stéphanie; Balvin, M. A.; Elsila, Jamie E.; Melina, Ana Espiritu; Kotecki, Carl A.; Towner, D.; Dworkin, Jason P.; Glavin, Daniel P.; Mahaffy, P. R.; Ferrance, Jerome P.

doi:10.1109/aero.2014.6836328

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Exciting progress is also being made on a fully integrated, portable LC-MS device by a group from NASA (and their collaborators) developing an Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces (OASIS) [35,36]. The LC chip is fabricated by bonding silicon and Pyrex wafers together to give a cylindrical channel that maintains flow stability beyond 275 bar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With an oval-shaped column shape, they could vary the length from 40-100 mm in a 10 × 5 × 1 mm footprint [35]. The LC column was then integrated with an electrospray tip and electronics that enabled both column temperature control and spray voltage [36] for the eventual coupling to a small (30 × 18 × 13 cm) TOF-MS (time-of-flight MS) analyzer developed separately to create an integrated system that could weigh ~5 kg and only consumes 3 W of power. The ultimate goal with the OASIS instrument is the extraterrestrial analysis of amino acid enantiomers [35] and other small organic molecules [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Advances in and prospects of microchip liquid chromatography

Grinias

Kennedy

2016

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This review focuses on recent advances in the field of microfluidic liquid chromatography from January 2013 through April 2015. Articles are organized by the type of stationary phase support focusing on device fabrication, column preparation, and use for specific applications. Additionally, a comprehensive table comparing chromatographic figures of merit for the work described is included as Appendix A as a reference for readers.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in and prospects of microchip liquid chromatography

Grinias

Kennedy

2016

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Separation of individual compounds by liquid chromatography before their identification by MS (liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry [LC-MS]) is also under investigation (Getty et al , 2013 ; Southard et al , 2014 ), although the difficulties associated with the handling of such liquids in space environments make this technique of lower TRL. Critically, MS/MS with LC-MS has been demonstrated as specifically enabling for determining MA Index (Marshall et al , 2021 ), though other separation techniques may also be applicable.…”

Section: Traceability To the Science Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cassini revealed that Saturn's Moon Enceladus hosts a subsurface ocean that meets the accepted criteria for habitability with bio-essential elements and compounds, liquid water, and energy sources available in the environment. Whether these conditions are sufficiently abundant and collocated to support life remains unknown and cannot be determined from Cassini data. However, thanks to the plume of oceanic material emanating from Enceladus’ south pole, a new mission to Enceladus could search for evidence of life without having to descend through kilometers of ice. In this article, we outline the science motivations for such a successor to Cassini , choosing the primary science goal to be determining whether Enceladus is inhabited and assuming a resource level equivalent to NASA's Flagship-class missions. We selected a set of potential biosignature measurements that are complementary and orthogonal to build a robust case for any life detection result. This result would be further informed by quantifications of the habitability of the environment through geochemical and geophysical investigations into the ocean and ice shell crust. This study demonstrates that Enceladus’ plume offers an unparalleled opportunity for in situ exploration of an Ocean World and that the planetary science and astrobiology community is well equipped to take full advantage of it in the coming decades.

show abstract

“…LC-MS has recently been suggested as a valuable addition to in situ organic-detection instrumentation for space applications and is a viable technique for detection of both organic (Southard et al, 2014) and inorganic analytes (Shelor et al, 2014) of astrobiological relevance. The main lingering challenge in miniaturization of LC has been the difficulty of developing and manufacturing robust and reliable pumps that are able to deliver sufficiently high pressure to utilize the high performance associated with small particles (<5 mm) (Lynch et al, 2018).…”

Section: Analysis Of Ppb-levels Of Amino Acids In Ocean World Analoguesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extraction and Separation of Chiral Amino Acids for Life Detection on Ocean Worlds Without Using Organic Solvents or Derivatization

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In situ instrumentation that can detect amino acids at parts-per-billion concentration levels and distinguish an enantiomeric excess of either d-or l-amino acids is vital for future robotic life-detection missions to promising targets in our solar system. In this article, a novel chiral amino acid analysis method is described, which reduces the risk of organic contamination and spurious signals from by-products by avoiding organic solvents and organic additives. Online solid-phase extraction, chiral liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry were used for automated analysis of amino acids from solid and aqueous environmental samples. Carbonated water (pH *3, *5 wt % CO 2 achieved at 6 MPa) was used as the extraction solvent for solid samples at 150°C and as the mobile phase at ambient temperature for chiral chromatographic separation. Of 18 enantiomeric amino acids, 5 enantiomeric pairs were separated with a chromatographic resolution >1.5 and 12 pairs with a resolution >0.7. The median lower limit of detection of amino acids was 2.5 mg/L, with the lowest experimentally verified as low as 0.25 mg/L. Samples from a geyser site (Great Fountain Geyser) and a geothermal spring site (Lemon Spring) in Yellowstone National Park were analyzed to demonstrate the viability of the method for future in situ missions to Ocean Worlds.

show abstract

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry interface for detection of extraterrestrial organics

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

Advances in and prospects of microchip liquid chromatography

Advances in and prospects of microchip liquid chromatography

Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus

Extraction and Separation of Chiral Amino Acids for Life Detection on Ocean Worlds Without Using Organic Solvents or Derivatization

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About