Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy – LC-MS

Written by Dr. Bhargav Raval | Updated: September 10, 2025

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS) is an analytical technique that allows the separation, identification, and quantification of the sample constituents. It is the preferred separation technique for larger and non-volatile molecules like proteins and peptides. It’s also ideal for separating isomers (same mass), which cannot be differentiated in a mass spectrometer. With its high sensitivity, high detection selectivity, and multicomponent analysis capabilities, LC-MS is used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace elements, contaminants, additives, etc., in a wide range of industries from drug delivery, clinical research, biopharmaceuticals to textiles and environmental sciences.

In LC, a sample is injected and adsorbed on the stationary phase (porous medium) as the liquid mobile phase passes through the column to separate the compounds. Compounds are divided based on their weight and affinity for stationary and mobile phases. The separated analytes then pass through a mass detector that differentiates compounds by their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). MS provides information about a sample’s identity, quantity, molecular weight, and purity.

We at Infinita Lab are committed to providing the best routine and advanced Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy analyses for our clients in the USA and worldwide. Our testing laboratory has various state-of-the-art instruments and methodologies for performing LC-MS experiments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DRL-V2Rkg&list=PLP4MGo6h0Izo1mhOzbMHvIseWA1oHkam2

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS) Common Uses:

Analysis and quantification of drugs and metabolites contained in biological samples (pharmacokinetic studies)
Used in drug development methods such as in vivo drug screening, peptide, and glycoprotein mapping, etc.
Biochemical screening for genetic disorders such as tyrosinemia type 1, urine diseases, and other clinical research and testing.
Reliable measurements in the areas of steroid biochemistry
Analysis of natural products and the profiling of secondary metabolites in plants
Analysis of hydrocarbons and contaminants in diesel engine exhausts
Determination of chemical pollutants (such as aflatoxins) in complex food matrices
Identification and characterization of reaction intermediates and by-products
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of polymer extractable/leachable such as plasticizers, stabilizers, antioxidants, etc.

Advantages of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS):

Fast LC analysis times and reduced sample preparation allow high throughput sample analysis
Able to perform simultaneous multianalyte analysis within a single run and minimal incremental cost
Excellent reproducibility of the results with the use of isotopically labeled internal standards (MS/MS)
Polarity switching for both positive and negative ions in a single analysis
High sensitivity – able to detect some compounds in the parts-per-billion (ppm) and -trillion (ppt) ranges (MS/MS)

Limitations of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS):

LC systems are expensive to maintain and need extensive training to operate when compared to GC
Stringent vacuum requirement
Mass spectrometers that couple to LC systems are expensive
The environmental conditions in the laboratory need to be well controlled to ensure system stability
The ionization techniques compatible with LC-MS produce very little fragmentation, which is useful for determining its molecular weight but does not provide any structural information of the molecules
Compounds must be soluble in common solvents such as water, alcohols, and acetonitrile
Compounds must be ionizable (usually polar)
Matrix effects (or ion suppression) occur because some components of the sample disturb the ionization mechanism, especially biological samples