Study of a complex environmental mixture by electrospray ionization and laser desorption ionization high resolution mass spectrometry: the cigarette smoke aerosol

Aerosols from the mainstream cigarette smoke have been analyzed by electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS). Measurements have been conducted in positive ion mode. The chemical composition of cigarette smoke aerosol is significant because it gives insights of one complex indoor environmental mixture. Almost 1300 chemical compositions relative to nitrogen species were successfully determined through the accurate mass measurement and the good ion production of the used technique. The most abundant class of compounds corresponds to N2 one (hydrocarbons with two nitrogen atoms). For other classes, the van Krevelen diagrams ensured to define that other nitrogen and oxygen-nitrogen compounds adopted similar behavior in terms of unsaturation and alkylation range. The detailed composition of cigarette smoke aerosol provided a typical chemical fingerprint from the biomass pyrolysis with tobacco-specific compounds. We examined also the contribution of laser desorption ionization (LDI) technique coupled to FTICRMS for the acute analysis of cigarette smoke aerosol. While a part of the chemical composition were found similar to ESI results, LDI achieved a broader range of poly-aromatic compounds and highlight new class compounds as pure hydrocarbon and oxygen-containing species. The combination of ESI and LDI with high resolution mass spectrometry clearly increased significantly the coverage of the “whole composition” of environmental aerosols such as cigarette smoke aerosol.