Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

IUPAC RECOMMENDATIONS 2013
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry {{{acronym}}}
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) Technique by which a mixture is separated into individual components by gas chromatography, followed by detection with a mass spectrometer. Note 1: Either a hyphen or slash can be used to indicate combined instruments. Note 2: The mass spectrum is typically obtained on a time scale that allows resolution of the component in a single chromatographic peak.
Related Term(s): liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), supercritical fluid chromatography-mass spectrometry (SFC-MS), thin layer chromatography-mass spectrometry (TLC-MS).
Reference(s): J. Lederberg, M. Wightman. Anal. Chem. 36, 2362 (1964). (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac60218a047 ) R. S. Gohlke, F. W. McLafferty. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 4, 367 (1993). (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/1044-0305(93)85001-E )
From Definitions of Terms Relating to Mass Spectrometry (IUPAC Recommendations 2013); DOI: 10.1351/PAC-REC-06-04-06 © IUPAC 2013.
Index of Recommended Terms

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Abbreviations of combined methods - the "slashes and hyphens" issue

QUOTED TEXT FROM IUPAC RECOMMENDATIONS 2013
The hyphen, or alternatively the slash (forward stroke), can be used to indicate combined methods such as gas chromatography separation combined with mass spectrometry detection. Thus, the above com- bination can be written as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or alternatively as gas chromatogra- phy/mass spectrometry. The corresponding abbreviations are GC-MS or GC/MS. The first use of a hyphen to indicate the combination of a separation method with mass spectrometry was in the early 1960s [18], and the use of a slash separator was in the 1970s [19]. The term hyphenated techniques was coined in 1980 [20]. Currently, hyphens and slashes are used interchangeably [12]. The journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry has in the past recommended that the combination of two analytical techniques be designated by a slash [21]. A recent Journal of Chromatography glossary also favors this usage [12]. IUPAC recommends that hyphens be used to describe variants of separation tech- niques, for example, gas-liquid chromatography and pyrolysis-gas chromatography [6]. The authors of this document are evenly split in their preference for hyphen or slash. For consistency with the prior recommendations, we use the hyphen for combined techniques but note that the slash can be used inter- changeably.
From Definitions of Terms Relating to Mass Spectrometry (IUPAC Recommendations 2013); DOI: 10.1351/PAC-REC-06-04-06 © IUPAC 2013.