Alternative Futures: BioFuels and Mass Spectrometry

In the 1950s, petroleum-related gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) applications were one of the founding cornerstones of modern mass spectrometry. Even now, "petroleomics" — not to be outdone by life science research — serves as an example of the cutting-edge in liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS).1 In petroleomics, several MS ionization techniques can differentiate between chemical species that differ by less than the mass of a single electron. Such astonishing sensitivity has come about as the magnetic-sector mass spectrometers of previous decades have yielded their place to modern, time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometers, improving the utility and flexibility of analyses with high mass accuracy and resolution.