Modern mass spectrometers:

Now-a-days most of the modern mass spectrometers are equipped with computerised library search systems. The recognization of the analyte can be achieved by performing the library search on the expected group of compounds. Once a reasonable match is obtained the spectra of the analyte and the reference compound can be plotted simultaneously and compared.

Very often we deal with mixtures of substances. The complexity of the spectra for mixtures necessitates that the components be separated prior to their mass spectral analysis. Such a separation is usually achieved by gas chromatography and the gas chromatograph is coupled with the mass spectrometer. In this hyphenated technique, the components from the GC are allowed to directly enter the spectrometer in the vapour phase one by one and get analysed. Recent advances have allowed even the liquid chromatographs, supercritical fluid (SCF) chromatographs, and capillary electrophoresis (CE) devices to be coupled directly to mass spectrometers.