General principles of identification by mass spectrometry

The review is devoted to chemical identification using mass spectrometry as the most powerful technique of qualitative analysis. The review begins with consideration of basic principles and means of chemical identification. Following are sections covering techniques and instruments and metrological issues. Procedures for identification outlined next are divided into target identification by methods and unknown/non-target analysis. For the latter, information support, such as mass spectral libraries and chemical databases, programs of formula generation and spectral prediction/interpretation, are reviewed. Finally, identification of samples and some general trends are briefly noted.