Instruments at ALEC

Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMSMS)

Our LCMSMS consists of a Quattro Premier XE tandem mass spectrometer from Waters-Micromass and an Acquity Ultra performance (UP) LC with sample organizer from Waters. Together they are configured for LC-atmospheric pressure ionization-MSMS.

The Acquity UPLC accommodates sub 2 μm column particles to produce accelerated chromatography and increased peak capacity and resolution. UPLC with sub 2 µm column particles can produce 70% higher resolution than 5 μm particles, and column lengths can be reduced by a factor of three. Separations can be run at a 3x higher flow rate to generate a 9x increase in throughput with no loss in resolution.

The Quattro Premier XE can achieve accurate quantitation from typical narrow peak widths produced by UPLC (2-3 s) by using fast acquisition speeds to collect sufficient data points per peak (15-20). T-Wave™ (Traveling Wave™) collision cell technology minimizes source-to-detector ion transit times for high-speed data acquisition. The ESCi ion source allows fast switching between ESI and APCI for ‘simultaneous’ monitoring by both ionization methods (positive and negative). The tandem mass spectrometry configuration maximizes analyte signal to allow accurate quantitation and trace level limits of detection of targets in complex matrices.

Software applications include MassLynx 4.1 for instrument management and data acquisition, including MS scanning, MS selected ion recording, MSMS precursor ion scanning (parents), MSMS product ion scanning (daughters), MSMS neutral loss/gain scanning, and MSMS multiple reaction monitoring. OpenLynx Processing provides summary reports for groups of samples. QuanLynx provides quantification of MassLynx data. QuanLynx quickly processes groups of samples to provide automated peak detection, calibration and quantification. TargetLynx is also for target quantification. In TargetLynx identification of target analytes is assured based on user-defined ion ratios.