ABSTRACT
In the middle 1950’s, the technique underwent increasing use by analytical and organic chemists which resulted in a cataclysmic effect in the areas of structural organic chemistry and analytical biochemistry. The principles upon which the technique is based are quite simple. A molecule is introduced in the vapor phase into an ion source where it undergoes excitation, usually by electron bombardment, leading to a partial fragmentation of the molecule into a series of ionized fragments which can then be analyzed as to their ionic mass by passage through an ion separator. The spectrum of fragment ions and intensities thus acquired will be characteristic of structural features of the parent molecule. The use of chemical ionization is a relatively new technique to mass spectrometrists and one that bears consideration in the area of drug research. The development of gas-liquid chromatographic techniques is an extrapolation of the theories of paper partition chromatography.
