Customer Reviews

Mass Spectrometry: A Textbook

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Although many books dealing with organic mass spectrometry (the present oeuvre is restricted to this field in a broad sense) have appeared over the years, since Beynons 1960 classic publication no single author has attempted to compile such a comprehensive treatise. The book comprises twelve chapters including basic principles (quasi-equilibrium theory, energy considerations--for example bond strengths, ionization energies, gas-phase basicities, etc., gas-phase ion chemistry, isotopes), instrumentation (ion separation in time-of-flight, sector-field, quadrupole, ion-trap, and ICR instruments), specifically electron ionization and in detail subsequent fragmentation of organic ions (specific processes, for example -cleavage or McLafferty rearrangement, are grouped together), alternative ionization techniques (chemical ionization, field ionization and desorption, fast atom bombardment and related techniques, MALDI, electrospray), and, in the closing chapter, so-called hyphenated methods (combinations of mass spectrometry with chromatographic methods and tandem mass spectrometry). Each chapter ends with an ample reference list comprising books and review articles and original publications. An appendix contains lists of elements and their isotopic composition, isotope patterns, characteristic fragments observed in electron-ionization spectra, and frequently encountered impurities.

Each chapter offers a detailed discussion with many illustrations facilitating understanding. Reference is always given to the original literature (as recent as 2003, as checks showed). The text is, however, occasionally somewhat verbose. In general the treatment of the various topics is of a thoroughness that it can be used also by advanced users of mass spectrometry for reference and deeper understanding. There are only few exceptions: thus the discussion of chemical ionization is essentially restricted to proton transfer, charge exchange, and electron capture whereas other reagent gases are just mentioned en passant.

Although many practical hints are interspersed in the text, a beginner in the field may be overawed by the wealth of information and ask, What should I do now? For example, in the over-detailed discussion of isotopes and accurate mass measurements there is no indication how to approach the list of elemental compositions obtained in daily practice (e.g. the nitrogen rule is discussed only many chapters later without any reference here).

H. Budzikiewicz

Concise, has the scientific information necessary for a complete understanding of what mass specometry entails from the practicing scientist's view. This book is a graduate level requiring an understanding of the physics involved and the associated mathematics. Would be a good reference for any laboratory using mass spectrometry on a daily basis.

In the preface the reader is warned. If you know nothing about MS, you'll need to read it cover to cover, skipping the details of no interest to you. If you know some MS, just go to the chapter(s) that are interesting to you.

Used that way, it is an excellent book. Having some experience in GC, this book was to me a first choice because most books on GC-MS are pretty outdated.

Esse livro é excelente! Ele nos dá uma ótima noção dos termos utilizados em espectrometria de massas. Seu capítulo que aborda os isótopos exclarece de maneira objetiva a interpretação da distribuição isotópica em um espectro de massa. Esse obra traz a evolução dessa técnica abordando os diferentes métodos de ionização, as características dos diferentes tipos de analisadores como os de setores magnéticos, quadrupolos, armadilha de íons, tempo de vôo e até mesmo os de ressonância cinclotrônica. Descreve o funcionamento dos detectores e mostra também os diferentes espectros obtidos na análise dos diferentes compostos orgânicos. Eu recomendo!