Device and method of direct introduction of materials into mass spectrometers from adsorbants

Claim 1

A method of introducing volatile organic samples readily and uncontaminatedly through a gas-liquid inlet system having a two-way valve of a mass spectrometer having an ionizing zone, for more efficient analysis comprising..... a. locating a volatile organic compound in a thin-layer chromatography plate, b. scraping small increments of adsorbant from the region which contains the said volatile organic compound off the said chromatography plate and directly into a sample chamber, c. closing the system to the atmosphere promptly thereafter, d. coupling the chamber to the gas-liquid inlet system of said mass spectrometer, e. turning the two-way valve to evacuate the system and make ready for analysis, and f. applying a sufficient quantity of heat to the outside of the sample chamber to volatilize and impel the volatile organic compound being analyzed away from the adsorbant and into the ionizing zone of the mass spectrometer.