Download or read book Direct Analysis in Real Time Ionization for High-resolution Mass Spectrometry written by Julia Diane Laney Rummel and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) is an ionization method for mass spectrometry (MS) that was introduced by Cody and coworkers in 2005.1 This source operates by passing helium or nitrogen between a high voltage needle and a counter electrode to produce an electrical discharge. Additional electrodes are present to remove all but the excited-state gas atoms/molecules. The excited species produced by the DART source may either ionize analytes directly or may interact with ambient components to create reagent ions that may ionize analyte molecules. Analytes are inserted directly into the stream of excited gas atoms or molecules that exit the DART source for desorption and ionization. Because little or no sample preparation is required and analyses are performed in ambient conditions, DART-MS offers rapid analyses of a variety of compound classes with minimal effort. For the current work, a DART source was fabricated and interfaced to several different mass spectrometers. The source was optimized and its analytical figures of merit were determined with analytes representative of illicit drugs, explosives, pesticides, and chemical warfare agents.