Calibration Point for Electron Ionization MS / MS spectra measured with multiquadrupole mass spectrometers

A protocol for establishing standard instrument conditions for measurement of product ion MS/MS spectra from parent ions produced by electron ionization is presented. Within this protocol, the ion at m/z 231 (C₅F₉ ⁺) from perfluorokerosene or perfluorotributylamine is selected as the parent ion and subjected to collision-induced dissociation. The relative intensities of product ions at m/z 69, 131, and 181 are monitored as a function of collision energy while keeping the target gas pressure constant within the range of 10^?4–10^?6 torr (measured), or a beam attenuation of approximately 30-70%. The collision energy at which the ion intensities for product ions at m/z 69 and 181 are equal is defined as the calibration point at that collision gas pressure; the intensity of the ion at m/z 131 is very close to this value as well. Electron ionization MS/MS spectra taken at the calibration point using two different multiquadrupole instruments show good reproducibility for several test compounds. The high degree of similarity may aid in the establishment of a MS/MS spectral library.     

Creation and comparison of MS/MS spectral libraries using quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers

Searchable libraries of MS/MS spectra, obtained using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with data-dependent scan mode switching on both quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers in conjunction with electrospray ionization, are presented. The effects on library search scores of changing the parameters for producing collision-induced dissociation (CID) on both instrument types are systematically evaluated. These observations serve as a basis for determining a universal set of conditions for building MS/MS libraries. A group of 19 closely related steroids was used. The ability to obtain library-searchable spectra at low concentrations is demonstrated for the analysis of a sample of progesterone spiked with hydroxyprogesterone impurities at 0.1 and 0.01%.     

Quantitation of fluoroquinolones in honey using tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS): nested validation with two mass spectrometers

A number of drugs in the quinolone and fluoroquinolone families, approved for veterinary treatment of food animals by various countries, may be used to treat bee diseases and thereby contaminate honey. An LC-MS/MS method has been developed for the quantification of the quinolones: flumequine, nalidixic acid, oxolinic acid, and pipemidic acid; and the fluoroquinolones ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, difloxacin, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, orbifloxacin, marbofloxacin, sarafloxacin, and sparfloxacin. A method-matched calibration curve is used with several internal standards, i.e., ciprofloxacin-d8, Iomefloxacin, and cinoxacin, to correct for the various types of honey matrices: white, light, medium, and dark colors. Enoxacin is added as an external recovery standard. The LOD values range from 0.05 microg/kg (ofloxacin) to 0.4 microg/kg (flumequine). The compounds are verified by LC-MS/MS retention times and ion ratios. Method uncertainty was determined using two separate analytical systems. The method has successfully measured the presence of norfloxacin in several samples of honey imported into Canada.     

Comparison of three types of mass spectrometers for HPLC/MS analysis of perfluoroalkylated substances and fluorotelomer alcohols

The performance of three different types of mass spectrometers (MS) coupled to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was compared for trace analysis of perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs). Ion trap MS in the full scan and product ion MS2 mode, time-of-flight (TOF) high resolution MS and quadrupole MS in the selected ion mode as well as triple quadrupole tandem MS were tested. Electrospray ionisation in the negative ion mode [ESI-] was best suited for all instruments and compounds. PFAS could only be separated by a buffered mobile phase, but the presence of buffer suppressed the ionisation of FTOHs. Therefore, two independent chromatographic methods were developed for the two compound classes. Mass spectra and product ion spectra obtained by in-source and collision induced dissociation fragmentation are discussed including ion adduct formation. Product ion yields of PFAS were only in the range of 0.3 to 12%, independent from the applied MS instrument. Ion trap MS2 gave product ion yields of 20 to 62% for FTOHs, whereas only 4.1 to 5.8% were obtained by triple quadrupole tandem MS. Ion trap MS was best suited for qualitative analysis and structure elucidation of branched isomeric structures of PFAS. Providing typical detection limits of 5 ng injected in MS2 mode, it was not sensitive enough for selective trace amount quantification. TOF high resolution MS was the only technique combining high selectivity and excellent sensitivity for PFAS analysis (detection limits of 2 to 10 pg), but lacked the possibility of MS-MS. Triple quadrupole tandem MS was the method of choice for quantification of FTOHs with detection limits in the low pg range. It is also well suited for the determination of PFAS, though its detection limits of 10 to 100 pg in tandem MS mode are about one order of magnitude higher than for TOF MS.     

Hybrid mass spectrometers: Versatile research instruments

Hybrid mass spectrometers combine the advantages of different types of mass analyzers to produce highly versatile scientific tools. Improvement on the traditional MS-MS scans is achieved enabling the extraction of additional information. In addition, new MS-MS scan modes have been discovered which display great promise. A new method of obtaining structural information by MS, surface-induced dissociation, is also implemented using the hybrid mass spectrometer.     

Hybrid mass spectrometers for tandem mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometers that use different types of analyzers for the first and second stages of mass analysis in tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments are often referred to as "hybrid" mass spectrometers. The general goal in the design of a hybrid instrument is to combine different performance characteristics offered by various types of analyzers into one mass spectrometer. These performance characteristics may include mass resolving power, the ion kinetic energy for collision-induced dissociation, and speed of analysis. This paper provides a review of the development of hybrid instruments over the last 30 years for analytical applications.     

Ion optics in mass spectrometers

Ion-optical relations are outlined that are relevant to mass spectrometers. Some of the relations are mathematically derived and others are only discussed and rationalized. Above all, however, attempts were made to elucidate basic relations and to provide equations that can readily be used for quantitative calculations of real mass spectrometers. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advances in microfabricated mass spectrometers

Mass filters for miniature mass spectrometers are now being constructed using three-dimensional microfabrication techniques. Crossed-field, travelling-wave, time-of-flight, quadrupole and cylindrical ion-trap filters have all been demonstrated, with steadily increasing mass range and mass resolution. This paper reviews the range of available devices and the state of the art.     

Calibration of mass ranges up to m/z 10,000 in electrospray mass spectrometers

We report that the cesium salts of monobutyl phthalate, heptafluorobutyric acid, tridecafluoroheptanoic acid, and perfluorosebacic acid generate salt/cluster ions that provide calibration peaks for electrospray mass spectrometers. In the case of the cesium salt of tridecafluoroheptanoic acid ions are available up to m/z 10,000.     

Linear time-of-flight mass spectrometers: Postsource pulse focusing conditions and mass scale

The condition to cancel aberrations that result from initial ion velocities and length of ionization process by postsource pulse focusing in linear time-of-flight mass spectrometers is derived. The ion arrival time distribution as a function of ion mass is given, which permits mass scale calibration. Simple formulas allow calculation of the voltage needed for postsource pulse focusing and the limits of the mass range where the focusing action is felt. The theory is illustrated for a specific instrument case.     

Sector field mass spectrometers in ICP-MS

A new generation of sector field mass spectrometers, with improved analytical figures of merit at even lower prices, is commercially available, giving a strong impetus to the development of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) sector field instrument applications in the analytical community. It is the aim of this paper to give an overview of these instruments, to introduce some basic concepts, to discuss their peculiarities and performance, and to present some selected examples of analytical applications to demonstrate the `state of the art'.     

Spectral counting robust on high mass accuracy mass spectrometers

Mass spectrometry is central to shotgun proteomics, an application that seeks to quantify as much of the total protein complement of a biological sample as possible. The high mass accuracy, resolution, capacity and scan rate of modern mass spectrometers have greatly facilitated this endeavor. The sum of MS to MS/MS transitions in tandem mass spectrometry, the spectral count (SC), of a peptide has been shown to be a reliable estimate of its relative abundance. However, when using SCs, optimal MS configurations are crucial in order to maximize the number of low abundant proteins quantified while keeping the estimates for the highly abundant proteins within the linear dynamic range. In this study, LC/MS/MS analysis was performed using an LTQ‐OrbiTrap on a sample containing many highly abundant proteins. Tuning the LTQ‐OrbiTrap mass spectrometer to minimize redundant MS/MS acquisition and to maximize resolution of the proteome by accurately measured m/z ratios resulted in an appreciable increase in quantified low abundant proteins. An exclusion duration of 90 s and an exclusion width of 10 ppm were found best of those tested. The spectral count of individual proteins was found to be highly reproducible and protein abundance ratios were not affected by the different settings that were applied. We conclude that on a high mass accuracy instrument spectral counting is a robust measure of protein abundance even for samples containing many highly abundant proteins and that tuning dynamic exclusion parameters appreciably improves the number of proteins that can be reliably quantified. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Triple mass spectrometry (MS/MS/MS) with a floated collision cell in a four-sector tandem mass spectrometer

A method is described for carrying out triple mass spectrometry (MS/MS/MS) experiments with an electrically floated collision cell in the third field-free region on a tandem double-focusing mass spectrometer. The method described may use magnet calibration obtained at any accelerating voltage and is generally applicable at any value of the collision cell voltage. The utility of the method to acquire MS/MS/MS spectra of enhanced quality is demonstrated on a JEOL JMS-HX110/HX110 four-sector mass spectrometer.     

Multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometers with electrostatic sectors

The mass resolution of a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer is directly proportional to its total flight pathlength. Multi-turn or multi-passage ion optical geometries are necessary to obtain fight distances of sufficient length within reasonable size limitations. We have investigated ion optics for a multi-turn TOF mass spectrometer with electrostatic sectors. The concept of 'perfect' focusing conditions is introduced. Furthermore, a new type of multi-turn TOF mass spectrometer, the MULTUM Linear plus, was developed. It consists of four cylindrical electric sectors and 28 electric quadrupole lenses. It has a vacuum chamber 60 x 70 x 20 cm in size. Mass resolution is demonstrated to increase according to the number of ion cycles. A mass resolution of 350 000 (m/z = 28, FWHM) was achieved after 501.5 cycles. The MULTUM Linear plus analyzer is not simple, however; 28 electric quadrupole lenses are used. In order to reduce the number of ion optical parts, an improved multi-turn TOF mass spectrometer, the MULTUM II, consisting of only four toroidal electric sectors, was also developed. The possibility of tandem mass spectrometric applications using multi-turn TOF mass spectrometers is also discussed.     

Pocket sensitivity calibration of multicollector mass spectrometers

Summary A method is described for the calibration of multicollector mass spectrometers. The instruments are used for nuclear application and equipped with 9 fixed collector pockets. To obtain all required information two solutions have been prepared one for uranium containing U-233, U-235, U-236 and U-238 with an approximate composition of 2111 and the other for plutonium containing Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-242 and Pu-244 with an approximate composition of 3132. The spectrum was shifted by one and two mass units on both sides of the normal position and the ion intensities collected. These data have been used for the calculation of the relative sensitivity of the pockets involved.

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Kalibrierung von Multikollektor-Massenspektrometern