Atmospheric‐pressure ionization mass‐spectrometric analysis of new anionic surfactants: The alkylpolyglucoside esters

Atmospheric‐pressure ionization mass spectrometry has been successfully applied to characterization of a new class of anionic surfactants, the alkylpolyglucoside esters of sulfosuccinic, citric and tartaric acid. Complex mixtures of final and intermediate products were injected directly into the ion source without prior chromatographic separation. The constituents were identified on the basis of quasi‐molecular ions: cationized ions or solute‐solute cluster ions in positive‐ion mode, and deprotonated ions in negative‐ion mode. The mass‐spectrometric data show that all three final products contain one nonionic and two different types of anionic surfactants. The “real time,” highly sensitive mass‐spectrometric approach proposed here is well suited for quality control testing of tensides, to ensure the safety of the final product, and for the validation of the manufacturing process, because it is able to identify the individual components of the mixture.