SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
new and notable at ASMS COMPANIES LAUNCH A VARIETY OF NEW INSTRUMENTS
M ASS SPECT ROME T E RS
AB SCIEX INTRODUCES ION MOBILITY CAPABILITY AB Sciex is adding an extra level of analytical selectivity to its Triple Quad 5500 and QTRAP 5500 instruments with differential ion mobility. In ion mobility, components in a mixture are separated on the basis of molecular size and shape rather than mass, adding an orthogonal separation method to the instruments’ existing massbased methods. The SelexION ion mobility cell is incorporated as part of the ionization source. AB Sciex customer Rick King, founder and director of PharmaCadence Analytical Services, said that adding SelexION to a system improved the limits of quantification by a factor of 10.
maXis impact achieves resolving power of 40,000 and 1-ppm mass accuracy for as many as 50 full spectra per second. With the new instrument, Bruker is targeting the applied markets such as quality control and industrial labs.
ORBITRAP FAMILY GROWS Thermo Fisher Scientific announced three additions to the Orbitrap lineup. The Orbitrap Elite (shown) is a high-field instrument that increases the speed and resolution of current Orbitrap technology. Resolving power greater than 240,000 can be achieved in a single onesecond scan. The high field and accompanying performance improvements were achieved by shrinking the size of the mass analyzer. At the lower end
BRUKER LAUNCHES COMPACT VERSION OF MAXIS With the new maXis impact, Bruker Daltonics is targeting labs that want performance but are also watching the bottom line. The new system achieves the performance of the original maXis with a smaller price tag, not to mention in a smaller package. The new system is less than 2 meters tall, whereas the maXis is nearly 3 meters tall. The WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
of the scale, the company introduced the Q Exactive, a benchtop quadrupole-Orbitrap hybrid system, which has increased sensitivity and resolving power greater than 140,000. The Velos Pro is a dual-pressure ion trap with improved speed and sensitivity that can serve as a front end for Orbitrap hybrid instruments. The system incorporates a trap and a higher-energy collision dissociation (HCD) cell that can be combined with other dissociation methods. The Velos Pro can also operate as a stand-alone linear ion trap instrument. Existing Velos systems can be upgraded to the new Velos Pro.
WATERS EXPANDS MASS SPEC OFFERINGS Waters added new systems to its Synapt and Xevo families of instruments. The Synapt G2-S incorporates the StepWave ion-transfer optics that the company first used in its Xevo TQ-S. The StepWave’s off-axis design increases the efficiency of ion transfer and helps eliminate neutral contaminants. Compared with previous generations of the Synapt, this system features 30-fold improvement in signal intensity, fivefold improvement in signal-to-noise ratio, and 10fold improvement in limits of quantification. The Xevo TQD, Waters’ newest triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, is an entry-level instrument aimed at routine quantitative analysis. The instrument features universal source architecture that allows users to switch easily between ionization methods. Data acquisition rates
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can keep pace with the narrow peaks in ultra-performance LC separations.
AXION PLATFORM DEBUTS PerkinElmer’s new AxION mass spectrometry platform incorporates time-of-flight MS with a direct sampling analysis source. This type of sampling relies on atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, thereby eliminating the need for sample prep. Users can also choose electrospray ionization with interchangeable snap-in probes that allow each scientist to use his or her own separation and ionization probe on a shared instrument. That flexibility is expected to reduce cross-contamination.
COMPANIES INTRODUCE NEW GC MASS SPECS Agilent and Thermo Fisher Scientific unveiled new gas chromatography-mass spec combos. Agilent’s 7200 Q-TOF combines high resolution, accurate mass measurements, and tandem MS. The system features an ion source that can be removed, replaced, and running again in less than 30 minutes. The company is targeting applications such as environmental analysis, sports doping, and energy research. Thermo introduced a new GC triple-quadrupole MS, the TSQ Quantum XLS Ultra. The system incorporates the company’s HyperQuad technology, which offers high sensitivity as well as ultrahigh selective selected reaction monitoring for increased selectivity.
THERMO FISH ER SCIENTIFIC
Earlier this month, more than 6,200 scientists gathered in Denver for the American Society for Mass Spectrometry’s 59th Conference on Mass Spectrometry & Allied Topics. At the meeting, instrument companies unveiled an array of new products.
AGILENT ADDS ION FUNNEL TO IMPROVED Q-TOF
AGILE N T T ECHN O LO GIES
Adding an ion funnel to the front end of the in-
strument ups the sensitivity of Agilent’s Q-TOF LC/MS system. The 6550 iFunnel Q-TOF LC/ MS system achieves femtogram sensitivity and acquisition rates as fast as 50 spectra per second. The ion funnel was introduced last year on a triplequadrupole instrument. Now Agilent has reengineered the ion optics and electronics of the Q-TOF to accommodate the increased ion flux.
S E PARATI O N S A N D I O N SO U RC ES
EASY METHOD GETS EVEN EASIER IonSense unveiled the ID Cube, a sample introduction device for the company’s direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization method. The ID Cube standardizes sample introduction for synthetic chemists. The sample—either a powder or a dried liquid—is spotted on a mesh strip on a sample card. The user then slips the card into a slot on the device, which properly aligns the sample.
WATERS INTRODUCES NEW UPLC SYSTEM Waters launched the new UPLC
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I-Class system. The instrument has reduced system volume compared with the company’s earlier systems. This smaller volume leads to decreased chromatographic dispersion, higher peak capacity, and increased resolution. This means that cycle times can be shortened without adversely affecting the separation quality.
SHIMADZU UNVEILS NEW AUTOSAMPLER Shimadzu’s Nexera MP autosampler for the company’s ultra-high-performance LC system has a seven-second injection time and a total cycle time of only 14 seconds. Following each injection, separate solutions are used to rinse the needle’s outer and inner surfaces, as well as the injection port. This extensive rinsing protocol
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reduces carryover to less than 0.0015%. The autosampler accommodates up to six microtiter plates.
SOURCE FOR CE TAKES OFF Beckman Coulter launched the CESI 8000, which incorporates capillary electrophoretic separation and electrospray ionization in the same module. The separation uses flow rates as low as 10 nL/minute. The electrospray tip is filled with a conductive liquid that eliminates the need for a sheath flow that might dilute the samples. The system results in improved sensitivity and decreased ion suppression.
CELIA ARNAUD compiled and wrote
these product highlights.
