Highly sensitive detection of melamine based on reversed phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry

In this work, we developed a highly sensitive method to detect melamine based on reversed phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. A mass spectrometry compatible ion pair, heptafluorobu-tyric acid(HFBA), was used to separate melamine by reversed phase liquid chromatography prior to electrospray mass spectrometry. The incorporation of isotope internal standard and multiple reaction monitoring improved the accuracy and linearity of quantification. Based on this strategy, the method limit of quantification was 0.1 ng/g. The limits of quantification were 8 ng/g for liquid milk and 15 ng/g for dry milk powder. This method provided a reproducible and stable approach to sensitive detection and quantification of melamine.