Determination of Impurities in High-Purity Methyl Methacrylate by Chromadistillation Coupled with Atmospheric Pressure Photochemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The determination of impurities in high-purity substances is an urgent task. A combination of chromadistillation with atmospheric pressure photoionization mass spectrometry can help in its solution. A combination of these methods ensures recording mass spectra of impurities contained in high-purity organic substances without separating them from the main component. At that, ions of the main component, formed as a result of atmospheric-pressure photoionization, act as a reagent substance for the desired impurities in the atmospheric pressure photochemical ionization mode. It is possible to choose conditions under which the number of peaks recorded in the mass spectrum of a mixture corresponds to the number of mixture components, and each peak corresponds to M+ or MH+ ions of the mixture component. The information obtained is the number of impurities in the test substance (in this work, in methyl methacrylate) and their integer molecular weights.