Comprehensive Screening of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Similar Compounds Using GC–APLI–TIMS–TOFMS/GC–EI–MS

In the present work, a novel workflow based on complementary gas-phase separations for the identification of isomeric PAHs from complex mixtures is described. This is the first report on the coupling of gas chromatography (GC), atmospheric pressure laser ionization (APLI), and trapped ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (TIMS–MS) for the characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Over a hundred known unknowns are uniquely identified based on the molecular ion retention indices I (5%), mobility (RSD < 0.6% and R = 50–90 with S r = 0.18 V/ms), mobility-based theoretical candidate assignment (