Mass Spectrometry at the University of Vermont

In Prof. Matthews' Laboratory, Dept. of Chemistry, Cook Physical Sciences Building

Mass separation by a quadrupole ion trap; m/z = 50-2000 & 100-4000 mass ranges
ESI and nanospray-ESI interfaces for liquid sample introduction (nanospray is shown in the photo)
Thermo-Finnigan Surveyor HPLC system with autosampler and with two quarternary pumps
Controlled by the Finnigan XCALIBUR data system on a PC
The ion trap can perform MSⁿ CID experiments
The system processes peptide data using Thermo-Finnigan SEQUEST as part of the Bioworks package

Mass separation by electromagnet; m/z = 0-70 mass range at 3 kV
Triple Faraday-cup collector system for measuring the isotopes of ¹³C, ¹⁸O, or ¹⁵N from CO₂ or N₂ gases
Samples injected into the HP6890 GC (with CTC A200S autosampler) then into the Finnigan GCC-III combustion/reduction interface (oxidation oven at 960 °C shown on top of GC)
Controlled by Finnigan Isodat data system on a PC
Purpose: to measure ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope ratios from organic compounds eluting from the GC.
Precision in the GC continuous-flow mode: <0.5 ‰ for ¹³C and ¹⁵N for <1 and 2 nmol of CO₂ and N₂ respectively.

With a HP6890 GC and HP7683 autosampler attached (on the left)
Electromagnet analyzer; mass range is m/z = 1-70 at 3 kV
Triple Faraday collector system for measuring the isotopes of ¹³C, ¹⁸O, or ¹⁵N from CO₂, CO, or N₂ gases
With a Hydra flight tube equipped with a special spur to collect m/z=3 of H₂ for ²H measurement in a Faraday cup, while collecting m/z=2 in the regular Faraday cup array. This scheme allows large separation of m/z = 2 & 3 and large separation of m/z = 3 from 4 (from the He carrier gas).
Two different pyrolysis interfaces between the GC and IRMS to provide sensitive measurement of ²H and ¹⁸O:
- One to reduce injected water or urine samples to H₂ and CO
- Another to convert organic compounds eluting from the GC to H₂ and CO
An ABCA-G gas inlet system (not shown to the right) with auto-injector is also installed to process H₂ or CO₂ gas samples from Exatainer tubes for measurement of ²H, ¹³C or ¹⁸O

HP6890 GC with an HP7683 autosampler
Quadrupole mass analyzer; m/z = 0-800 mass range
Electron impact (EI) ionization
Negative (NCI) and positive chemical ionization (PCI)
Used for measuring stable isotopic enrichments in metabolites of biological samples in the range of 0.5 -10 mole % excess (mpe) tracer by selected ion monitoring (SIM).

HP5890 GC with an HP7673B autosampler
Quadrupole mass analyzer; m/z = 0-650 mass range
Electron impact (EI) ionization
Used for measuring stable isotopic enrichments in metabolites of biological samples by SIM

High performance hybrid triple-quadrupole/linear ion trap mass spectrometer with collision induced dissociation (CID) capability for MS/MS and for MSⁿ using the ion trap. The ABI 4000QTrap has both the scanning functions of a triple quadrupole with the scanning functions of a linear ion trap that can perform simultaneously in both modes within a single injection/analysis automatically through the software.
Operation in both negative and positive ion mode
mass range of m/z = 5 to 2,800 in Q1 and Q3 in RF/DC mode and m/z = 70 to 2,800 in linear ion trap mode
maximum scan speed of 2,400 amu/sec in RF/DC mode and user-settable scan speeds of 250 amu/sec, 1000 amu/sec and 4,000 amu/sec in linear ion trap mode
A number of operational modes are available, including product ion scanning for structural elucidation and precursor ion and neutral loss scanning
Three modes of LC spray ionization: (i) atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), (ii) "Turbo IonSpray", i.e. ESI, and (iii) Nanospray ESI
The LC interfaced to the 4000QTrap a Shimadzu with nano-LC capability
A full suite of instrument control and data processing software are available

Varian 3900 GC and CP-8400 autosampler
Ion trap with a m/z = 10-650 mass range
Operates in electron impact ionization (EI) and postive chemical ionization (PCI) modes
Especially useful in PCI mode is the collisionally induced dissociation (CID) option to acquire MS/MS spectra

Mass separation by a linear quadrupole ion trap; m/z = 50-2000 & 50-4000 mass ranges
ESI & nanospray-ESI interfaces for liquid sample introduction
Controlled by the Finnigan XCALIBUR data system
The linear ion trap can perform MSⁿ collision induced dissociation (CID) experiments
The system processes peptide data using Thermo-Finnigan SEQUEST as part of the Bioworks package
Shown in photo: our home-made nanospray stage and microcapillary HPLC column
Shimadzu Prominence HPLC system with autosampler and two pumps

Mass separation by a linear quadrupole ion trap; m/z = 50-2000 & 50-4000 mass ranges
and high resolution mass separation by the Orbitrap; resolution 7500-30,000
ESI & nanospray-ESI interfaces for liquid sample introduction
Controlled by the Finnigan XCALIBUR data system
The linear ion trap can perform MSⁿ CID experiments
The system processes peptide data using Thermo-Finnigan SEQUEST as part of the Bioworks package
Thermo-Finnigan Surveyor HPLC system with autosampler and quarternary pump

With a 337-nm N₂ 3-ns pulse UV laser and delayed extraction after photoionization
1.3-m linear flight tube with a ~300-kDa mass range and a resolution of >2000 for small proteins (m/z <20 kDa) and ~50 for large proteins (m/z ~100 kDa)
2.0-m flight tube in “reflectron” mode with resolution of >7,000 at m/z <6 kDa
Positive and negative ion measurement
“Post-source decay” capability

Any photo of the MALDI-TOF looks like a boring box, so we have also included an "under the hood" photo the ABI MALDI-TOF DE-Pro with the cover off.