Beyond M to Z

Courtesy Photo | Analysis of unknown sample compared to known compounds using two-dimensional mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (2D MS/MS). (Teledyne FLIR image)  

FT. BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

05.10.2023

Courtesy Story

Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Chemical and Biological Technologies Department

A new, portable, two-dimensional mass spectrometer (2D MS/MS) system, called Portable Opioid Environmental Monitoring with Mass Spectrometry (POEMMS), is aimed at detecting and identifying known and unknown opioid threats in complex chemical environments. POEMMS can speed up identification of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

Fentanyl is increasingly being pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids. This poses a serious threat to the Joint Force, our nation, and allies. It is difficult for a sensor to detect new threats that have not been previously characterized and catalogued in that sensor’s identification library. Currently, over 4,000 fentanyl analogs exist with the number increasing yearly, making it nearly impossible for a sensor to have all the structures in its identification or classification library, which increases the need for large computing power for data analysis.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department in its role as the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for Chemical and Biological Defense has invested with researchers at Teledyne FLIR and Purdue University to develop the POEMMS system that uses ambient-pressure chemical ionization paired with an ion-trap mass analyzer to perform 2D MS/MS.

In mass spectrometry, an ionization source converts neutrally charged analyte molecules into product ions or neutral losses (molecular fragments that have no charge), which can be used to identify the target compound.

The POEMMS prototype uses an ion trap of electric fields to capture and analyze ions. This provides orders of magnitude for more chemical identification capability and facilitates the identification of new variants that have not been previously characterized and entered in the system’s detection library.

Having a robust data set allows for the instrument to identify the different molecules in a complex chemical mixture without the need for separation techniques, such as gas chromatography or ion mobility spectrometry. The 2D MS/MS technique also allows researchers to use POEMMS to effectively scan for particular compounds in a sample, scan for specific functional groups, and analyze all precursor/product relationships. These analysis methods allow the POEMMS system to identify whether an unknown threat is a structural analog of an opioid, chemical warfare agent, or other class of chemical hazard that endangers the Joint Force.

While 2D MS/MS measurements have traditionally required large, lab-based instrumentation, the POEMMS system is man-portable, allowing end users to bring this high-fidelity detection capability into the field. The current prototype has a sample inlet that is intended to heat swipes used to collect the sample, but the system is modular and can accommodate different sample introduction methods, such as direct air sampling.

DTRA JSTO investment in the development of the POEMMS system ensures high-fidelity molecular identification capabilities in a man-portable form, providing the necessary tools to detect both known and unknown chemical threats in the Joint Force operational battlespace.

POC: Ms. Nicole Farrall, [e-mail]

• Date Taken: 05.10.2023
• Date Posted: 05.10.2023 18:12
• Story ID: 444489
• Location: FT. BELVOIR, VA, US