Understanding the relative performance of SCAN, SIM, PMRM and MRM methods for quantifying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in crude oil samples

Abstract

Rationale: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in oil spill samples are analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) using four different methods: (1) full scan (SCAN), (2) selected ion monitoring (SIM), (3) multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), and (4) pseudo multiple reaction monitoring (PMRM). This study quantifies the relative performance of these methods. Methods:Novel experiments were designed to measure the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios of all four methods. This was accomplished by spiking the crude oil with five deuterated PAHs (dPAHs) in two distinct ways: (1) varying the background noise by changing crude oil concentrations before spiking the samples with 1 ng/mL of dPAHs, and (2) varying the signal by spiking dPAHs concentrations of 0.5 and 5 ng/mL into a crude oil sample. Results:The MRM method is the most selective and sensitive of the four methods. It also provides the lowest limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ).MRM is the optimal approach for quantifying PAHs in complex petroleum samples containing high levels of background noise. Also, our data show that the PAHs in complex oil spill samples can be quantified by MRM without using any complicated sample preparation steps. Conclusions:Based on our experimental data, the relative performance of the four methods used for quantifying PAHs in crude oil samples can be ranked as MRM > PMRM > SIM > SCAN.

Analysis of Processing Effects on Glucosinolate Profiles in Red Cabbage by LC-MS/MS in Multiple Reaction Monitoring Mode

“…Hydrolysis products of glucoiberin have been reported to suppress carcinogenesis, protecting human and animal cells [ 29 ]. Sinigrin can produce volatile and bioactive 2-propenyl isothiocyanate, which is pungent, lachrymatory and has a bitter flavor, and 2-propenyl thiocyanate, which has horseradish and garlic-like properties [ 16 , 30 , 34 ]. Stir-frying and frying induced significant losses in glucoalyssin (93.37% and 92.24%, respectively), glucoiberin (95.86% and 92.36%, respectively) and sinigrin (96.61% and 96.39%, respectively), much like the effect on the glucosinolates mentioned earlier.…”

“…MRM is multiple reaction monitoring, which selects the parent ion at first and then selects a daughter ion. Hence, the selectivity of MRM is higher than that of SIM [ 16 ].…”

Recent Advanced Methods for Extracting and Analyzing Cannabinoids from Cannabis-Infused Edibles and Detecting Hemp-Derived Contaminants in Food (2013–2023): A Comprehensive Review

“…69,91,92 Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was commonly used for quantitative analysis, which has been increasingly adopted over single ion monitoring (SIM) due to its enhanced specificity and sensitivity, particularly for the detection of low-level target analytes in complex matrices. 93 The evolution to the MRM mode represents a significant advancement in the targeted analysis of phytocannabinoids, enabling more accurate and reliable detection and quantification.…”

Multiple reaction monitoring tool applied in the geochemical investigation of a mysterious oil spill in northeast Brazil

“…For this purpose, gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/qMS) has been an extremely effective tool, which is commonly used in two different acquisition methods, namely full scan (SCAN) and selected ion monitoring (SIM) aiming to perform the separation and identification of petroleum hydrocarbons (Borisov et al 2019, Wang et al 2006. Recently, gas chromatography/ triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) has been employed to develop more selective and sensitive methods for analyzing petroleum biomarkers, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), terpanes and steranes (Han et al 2020, Qian et al 2017.…”

“…The MRM method eliminates problems related to interfering chromatographic peaks and improves the signal-to-noise ratio, compared to selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode, which is especially important in analyses of complex natural mixtures, such as crude oils under forensic investigation of oil spills (Borisov et al 2019, Qian et al 2017, Wang et al 2006. Han et al (2020) investigated the performance of the pseudo multiple reaction monitoring (PMRM), MRM, SIM, and SCAN acquisition modes for the quantification of PAHs present in oil samples, which revealed the superiority of the MRM method for this purpose (Han et al 2020).…”