| Abstract
| - Recently we introduced atmospheric pressure laser ionization (APLI) as a complementary ionization method forcoupling LC−MS systems (HPLC and CEC), allowingionization of nonpolar aromatic compounds via near-resonant two-photon excitation. In this paper, we demonstrate that APLI with the same source enclosure as forLC coupling is also suited for hyphenation of GC withatmospheric-pressure ionization mass spectrometry. Thistechnique permits the qualitative and quantitative determination of aromatic compounds in an ultralow concentration range, as we show here with polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylated PAHs, and hetero-PAHsas examples. The outstanding sensitivity is demonstratedfor chrysene, with a detection limit of 22 amol. Polarfunctional groups reduce the sensitivity, but after methylation or silylation, the analytes can also be determinedvery sensitively in complex matrixes, as is shown with1-hydroxypyrene in urine.
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