Evaluation of atmospheric pressure ionization interfaces for quantitative measurement of sulfonamides in honey using isotope dilution liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry techniques

A comparison was made between electrospray, atmospheric pressure chemical and atmospheric pressure photospray ionizations to evaluate the MS/MS responses of standard sulfonamides and honey spiked samples. The sample preparation entails an acidic hydrolysis followed by a liquid/liquid extraction. Full method validation was realised by LC-APPI-MS/MS. Decision limit and detection capability were calculated for each analyte (at 50 μg/kg) and ranged between 53.6 and 56.9 and 57.5 and 63.2 μg/kg, respectively. Limits of detection and of quantification ranged, respectively, at 0.4–4.5 and 1.2–15.0 μg/kg. Precursor ion scan experiments of m/z 92 were also carried out as a survey experiment, linked with an enhanced product ion scan experiment to potentially identified additional sulfonamides via a library search.