Credit: NIST
In this 1948 photo, a NIST staff member operates an early mass spectrometer.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has updated its database of chemical fingerprints, called mass spectra, that are used to identify unknown chemical compounds. The NIST Mass Spectral Library and its new version, called NIST20, is used in health care, drug discovery, foods and fragrances, oil and natural gas, environmental protection, forensic science and almost every other industry that manufactures or measures physical stuff.
“If you have a mysterious substance — you have no idea what it is — you generate its fingerprints then run those prints through our library,” said NIST biostatistician Tytus Mak. “If you find a match, you know what the substance is.”
Those chemical fingerprints are generated using a laboratory instrument called a mass spectrometer that breaks molecules into pieces then lines those pieces up on a graph according to their mass. The resulting mass spectrum appears as a series of vertical lines that form a unique pattern for each compound.
The NIST Mass Spectral Library comes pre-installed on many instruments, and users can purchase the update from their instrument manufacturer or other distributors. Collections of mass spectra used in specialized areas of research can be downloaded for free from the NIST website.
Credit: M. Delorme/NIST
NIST research chemist Kelly Telu injects a sample into a mass spectrometer, a laboratory instrument that scientists use to identify unknown chemical compounds.
Mass spectrometry is particularly useful for identifying organic compounds ..
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