Spectroscopy Most efficient qualitative method

As far as I know, mass spectrometry is the most sensitive

@argentum Why is it so?

The high-performance liquid chromatography HPLC method is the most versatile for the study of organic substances, including biologically active ones, one of the effective methods of separation of complex mixtures of substances.

@argentum I absolutely agree that mass spectrometry today is the fastest, most sensitive and informative method for analyzing chemical and biological compounds of any complexity: from chemical elements to biopolymers (proteins, sugars, nucleic acids)

@chaoticgood It is based on the ionization of atoms and molecules of a substance and the subsequent separation of the resulting ions in accordance with their mass number m/z - the ratio of the mass of an ion to its charge - in an electric or magnetic field. Therefore, it is sensitive.

The advantage of the method is that a very small amount of substance is sufficient for analysis (trace amounts of substances up to 10^-14 grams can be detected), the main drawback is that it is not the substance itself that is being investigated, but the products of its transformation.

@damiryagudin I think you were wrong, did you mean micrograms instead of grams?

@chaoticgood   DamirYagudin have already described it all below)

Thanks! Ought to study this one for sure

@argentum No, I was not mistaken. Perhaps I did not specify the degree, meaning up to 10^-14 grams. Using this method (mass spectrometry), micrograms of a substance are easy to detect.

@damiryagudin ok, i understood