Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an essential instrument for high-throughput metabolomics studies especially for VOCs profiling. GC-MS utilizes a quadrupole mass spectrometer capable of high-speed scanning, which enables reliable and fast metabolites identification that are biologically relevant. Generally, samples are normally derivatized prior to GC-MS analysis in order to reduce their polarity and facilitate chromatographic separation. The electron ionization (EI) mass spectra obtained are reproducible and suitable for library matching, mass spectral collections being readily available.

In this 3-day workshop, we will provide a detailed practical GC-MS based metabolomics that covers sample preparation (extraction and derivative methods of GC-MS, with hands-on), data acquisition including qualitative and quantitative analysis and finally data analysis using univariate and multivariate approaches.