ORBION

Organonitrates play a pivotal role in atmospheric chemistry: they regulate the NOₓ budget, drive secondary organic aerosol formation, and act as reservoirs for long-range nitrogen transport. Measuring these compounds at ultra-trace levels in humid, chemically complex air remains a significant analytical challenge.

Karsa researchers, together with partners in Helsinki and Tampere, have published in Analytical Chemistry a new method for sustainable, ultrasensitive detection of amines and semivolatiles. Using X-ray desorbed solid urea, the team achieved attomole-level sensitivity with stable operation across humidity conditions with all solid-state reagents.

This white paper explains how insufficient resolution leads to ambiguity—and how new high-resolution mass spectrometry is essential for identifying what truly matters in air chemistry.

Historically, Orbitrap mass spectrometers have been considered large, power-intensive, and lab-bound instruments -- but times have changed!