Thermal desorption- and sniffing-mass spectrometric monitoring of enriched trace compounds by means of a "live total transfer system"

A system for thermal desorption of samples obtained by enrichment of airborne chemicals or column effluents is described. The enriched components from the adsorption traps are transferred to the capillary column by a valveless switching system originally developed for multi-dimensional gas chromatography. When applied to flavour analysis (e.g. passion fruit), the additional sniffing-mass spectrometry monitoring facility proved to be useful for the detection of sensorially active trace compounds (e.g. 7,8-dihydro-β-ionone, β-damascenone). The ease of changing between multi-dimensional gas chromatography operation and thermal desorption allows a maximum of flexibility with regard to different analytical tasks.