Monitoring of chemical transformations by mass spectrometry

Abstract

During the last several decades, mass spectrometry (MS) has rapidly developed as a practical technique that can be used to monitor chemical reactions and investigate reaction mechanisms. The real-time discovery of intermediates and products provides critical information regarding the reaction mechanism, which can facilitate the optimization of reaction conditions. With appropriate ionization methods, most chemical compounds can be ionized and detected with MS hybrid systems. In this review, we describe different types of ion sources for hybrid mass spectrometry used in the direct and rapid monitoring of chemical reactions.