Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of quaternary ammonium pesticides

Abstract
A detailed MSn study on an ion trap instrument of the quaternary ammonium pesticides paraquat, diquat, difenzoquat, mepiquat and chlormequat reveals a number of ions not reported previously, and has allowed examination of the fragmentation pathways. A number of transitions that are highly specific to each quat have been identified. Optimal ion trap operating conditions determined using Simplex optimisation can promote either detection of a particular fragmentation transition or a range of MS/MS product ions with a high overall signal response. Thus, fragmentation conditions were optimised to enhance the specificity or sensitivity of MS/MS methods. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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