In the 75 years of the Analytical Chemistry Division of the ACS, mass spectrometry (MS) has shed its coat half a dozen times. In the late 1930's MS was part of physics, with emphasis on isotope masses and abundances; immediately after WWII industrial applications to process monitoring in oil refineries began (only to be replaced by � of all things � GC); the fifties and sixties were an age of organic structure/ spectrum correlations; the seventies saw both environmental applications and isotope ratio MS flourish; the eighties began the biological revolution. This paper builds on this historical background to suggest that MS today is beginning to embrace its wide role as the science and technology of ions. Not just ions in vacuum, not just ions in small numbers. MS deals explicitly with the ionic state of matter and experiments aimed at microscale synthesis and surface functionalization represent one direction of current growth. This presentation covers both synthesis and analysis by MS and eschews high performance experiments in favor of just-adequate-performance in demonstrations of novel concepts.

Mass spectrometry: Analytical chemistry and more

246th National Meeting (2013)

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