The process begins with the liquid chromatography phase, where the sample is dissolved in a solvent and passed through a column filled with a stationary phase. Different compounds in the sample interact with the stationary phase to varying degrees, causing them to elute at different times. The separated compounds then enter the mass spectrometer, where they are ionized and fragmented. The mass spectrometer measures the mass-to-charge ratio of these ions, producing a spectrum that can be used to identify and quantify the compounds.
