HDPairFinder:A data processing platform for hydrogen/deuterium isotopic labeling-based nontargeted analysis of trace-level amino-containing chemicals in environmental water

The combination of hydrogen/deuterium(H/D)formaldehyde-based isotopic methyl labeling with solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry(HPLC-HRMS)is a powerful analytical solution for nontargeted analysis of trace-level amino-containing chemicals in water samples.Given the huge amount of chemical information generated in HPLC-HRMS analysis,identifying all possible H/Dlabeled amino chemicals presents a significant challenge in data processing.To address this,we designed a streamlined data processing pipeline that can automatically extract H/D-labeled amino chemicals from the raw HPLC-HRMS data with high accuracy and efficiency.First,we developed a cross-correlation algorithm to correct the retention time shift resulting from deuterium isotopic effects,which enables reliable pairing of H-and D-labeled peaks.Second,we implemented several bioinformatic solutions to remove false chemical features generated by in-source fragmentation,salt adduction,and natural13C isotopes.Third,we used a data mining strategy to construct the AMINES library that consists of over 38,000 structure-disjointed primary and secondary amines to facilitate putative compound annotation.Finally,we integrated these modules into a freely available R program,HDPairFinder.R.The rationale of each module was justified and its performance tested using experimental H/D-labeled chemical standards and authentic water samples.We further demonstrated the application of HDPairFinder to effectively extract N-containing contaminants,thus enabling the monitoring of changes of primary and secondary N-compounds in authentic water samples.HDPairFinder is a reliable bioinformatic tool for rapid processing of H/D isotopic methyl labeling-based nontargeted analysis of water samples,and will facilitate a better understanding of N-containing chemical compounds in water.

Integration of solid phase extraction with HILIC-MS/MS for analysis of free amino acids in source water

Amino acids(AAs) are prevalent in source water, particularly during spring run-off. Monitoring of amino acids in source water is desirable for water treatment plants(WTP) to indicate changes in source water quality. The objective of this study was to establish analytical procedures for reliable monitoring of amino acids in source water. Therefore, we examined two different methods, large volume inject(LVI) and solid phase extraction(SPE), for sample preparation prior to HILIC-MS/MS. The LVI-HILIC-MS/MS method can provide fast and sensitive detection for clean samples, but suffers from matrix effects, resulting in irreproducible separation and shortening column lifetime. We have demonstrated that SPE was necessary prior to HILIC-MS/MS to achieve reproducible and reliable quantification of AAs in source water. A natural heterocyclic amine 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid(MTCCA) was also included in the method to indicate changes in other natural nitrogenous compounds in source water. The SPE-HILIC-MS/MS method was able to achieve limits of detection from 2.6-3400 ng/L for the amino acids and MTCCA with RSDs( n = 3) of 1.1%-4.8%. As well, retention times(RT) of the analytes were reproducible with variation less than 0.01 min( n = 3) through the entire project. We further applied the SPE-HILICMS/MS method to determine AAs in authentic source water samples collected from two drinking water treatment plants(WTPs) during the 2021 spring run-off season. The results support that the SPE-HILIC-MS/MS method does not require derivatization and can provide reliable, accurate, and robust analysis of AAs and MTCCA in source water, supporting future monitoring of source water quality.