Back     

"Comprehensive Separation" conducts research at the interface of the JMSC's two main research areas, "Enabling Analytical Technologies" and "Aerosols and Health". The scientific goals are to develop and implement new and state-of-the-art analytical tools and methods for their application in the fields of environmental health. Key techniques are comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) in combination with highly selective spectroscopic and mass spectrometric detection systems. In addition, thermal sample insertion techniques such as direct insertion probe (DIP) and various thermal analysis (TA) approaches in combination with soft ionization techniques are also established and used to extend the applied interfaces of gas phase ionization to less and non-volatile matrices. Another focus is the comprehensive and state-of-the-art data processing and data analysis of the generated multidimensional data.

"Comprehensive Separation" offers a broad spectrum of projects with a clear focus on the priorities of Helmholtz Munich and the JMSC. Internal and third-party funded projects in recent years have focused on diabetes research, allergy research, and aerosols and health. These interdisciplinary studies have always aimed at bridging the gap between chemical analysis and biological response. In this context, the close interaction with other institutes on the HMGU campus, as well as the JMSC topics "Aerosol Toxicology" and "Aerosol Mutagenesis" are becoming increasingly important.

The goal is the subsequent application of the developed techniques for aerosol and health research. An example of such successful collaboration and subsequent transfer of scope is the establishment of an analytical platform for the study of less volatile and highly complex petroleum products. The platform allows the simultaneous application of different thermal methods such as Direct Inlet Probe (DIP), Thermal Analysis (TA) or high temperature GC×GC coupled with a high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer.

This successfully established platform is being used in a new project to study pharmaceutical raw materials and identify pharmacologically active ingredients with similar complexity to petroleum-based matrices (Paper Käfer, Tiemann?). In this context, collaboration with analytical system manufacturers is instrumental in maintaining the analytical technical level and availability of state-of-the-art analytical platforms at the JMSC and HMGU. However, a unifying feature of all these projects is the methodological approach of non-targeted and comprehensive chemical analysis.