Identifying the tobacco related free radicals by UPCC-QTOF-MS with radical trapping method in mainstream cigarette smoke

• A combined strategy of trapping method and UPCC-QTOF-MS has been successfully used for analyzing of radicals in cigarette smoke directly.
• OPLS-DA and computational calculations are utilized to evaluate the experimental results.
• 8 tobacco related radical species have been identified based on the advanced analytical procedures.

Tobacco related free radicals (TFRs) in the cigarette smoke are specific classes of hazardous compounds that merit concern. In this study, we developed a hybrid method to identify TFRs directly based on ultra-performance convergence chromatography with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPCC-QTOF MS) combined spin trapping technique. The short-lived TFRs were stabilized successfully in situ through spin trapping procedure and UPCC was applied to facilitate efficient separation of complex derivative products. Coupling of orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), UPCC-QTOF MS system enabled us to identify specific potential TFRs with exact chemical formula. Moreover, computational stimulations have been carried out to evaluate the optimized stability of TFRs. This work is a successful demonstration for the application of an advanced hyphenated technique for separation of TFRs with short detection time (less than 7 min) and high throughput.

The method of ultra-performance convergence chromatography mass spectrometry (UPCC-QTOF MS) integrated with the efficient spin trapping stabilization procedure has been demonstrated for accuracy, fast and high throughput for identifying tobacco related free radicals directly in cigarette smoke.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide