Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection: analysis of amino acid and organic acid trimethylsilyl derivatives, with application to the analysis of metabolites in rye grass samples

Second, in order to demonstrate GC × GC/TOFMS on two real sample types, trimethylsilyl metabolite derivatives were analyzed from extracts of common lawn grass samples (i.e., perennial rye grass), as a means to provide insight into both the pre and post harvest physiology. Various chemical components in the two rye grass extract samples were found to either emerge or disappear in relation to the trauma response. For example, a significant difference in the peak for the TMS derivative of malic acid was found. The successful analysis of various components was readily facilitated by the 2D separation, while a 1D separation would have produced too much peak overlap, thus impeding the analysis. The importance of using a GC × GC separation approach for the analysis of complex samples, such as metabolite extracts, is therefore demonstrated. The real-time analysis capability of GC × GC/TOFMS for multidimensional metabolite analysis makes this technique well suited to the high-throughput analysis of metabolomic samples, especially compared to slower, stopped-flow type separation approaches.