Mass measurements accuracy

It is important to remember that changes in column packings and chromatographic systems may alter the retention of closely eluting compounds, and these elution schemes should only be used in conjunction with other identification tools such as tandem MS Ifagmen-tation patterns and high-mass accuracy measurements. 

Accurate Mass Measurement. Mass accuracy measurement, typically reported as parts per million (ppm), is essential for elemental-composition... 

The development of ionization techniques and mass analyzers has enabled mass spectrometrists to determine the accurate mass of small molecules as well as biomolecules that are present at low levels. The modem quadrupole time of flight (Q-TOF), Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance MS (FT-ICR MS), and Orbitrap instruments allow determination of the mass of an ion with accuracies and precisions beyond the decimal point. Mass accuracy measurement, typically measured and reported as parts per million (ppm), is essential for elemental composition assignment. 

J.2 Tandem Mass Spectrometry NL-driven CID-MS and NL-driven ECD-MS/MS can be performed, among others, on a hybrid Hnear ion trap-FTICR mass spectrometer (LTQ-FT, Thermo Finnigan). The use of an instrument capable of high mass accuracy measurements both for precursor ions and product ions... 

Other techniques for mass measurement are available, but they are not as popular as those outlined above. These other methods include mass measurements on a standard substance to calibrate the instrument. The standard is then withdrawn, and the unknown is let into the instrument to obtain a new spectrum that is compared with that of the standard. It is assumed that there are no instrumental variations during this changeover. Generally, this technique is less reliable than when the standard and unknown are in the instrument together. Fourier-transform techniques are used with ion cyclotron mass spectrometers and give excellent mass accuracy at lower mass but not at higher. 

Mass flow measurement has been shown to be efficient as a mole ratio control, even where S03 mass flow was not measurable with sufficient accuracy in the diluted gas stream. 

Principles and Characteristics Mass spectrometry can provide the accurate mass determination in a direct measurement mode. For a properly calibrated mass spectrometer the mass accuracy should be expected to be good to at least 0.1 Da. Accurate mass measurements can be made at any resolution (resolution matters only when separating masses). For polymer/additive deformulation the nominal molecular weight of an analyte, as determined with an accuracy of 0.1 Da from the mass spectrum, is generally insufficient to characterise the sample, in view of the small mass differences in commercial additives. With the thousands of additives, it is obvious that the same nominal mass often corresponds to quite a number of possible additive types, e.g. NPG dibenzoate, Tinuvin 312, Uvistat 247, Flexricin P-1, isobutylpalmitate and fumaric acid for m = 312 Da see also Table 6.7 for m = 268 Da. Accurate mass measurements are most often made in El mode, since the sensitivity is high, and reference mass peaks are readily available (using various fluorinated reference materials). Accurate mass measurements can also be made in Cl... 

The use of CIEF in combination with FTICR has been demonstrated in an analysis of the E. coli proteome (Jensen et al., 1999). For these experiments, E. coli was grown in a medium depleted of rare isotopes in order to increase the mass measurement accuracy. The high abundance isotopes are present at approximately 98.89% 12C, 99.63% 14N and 99.985% H. For peptides, the presence of rare isotopes does not significantly change the spectra but with undigested proteins, mass accuracy can be limited by the broadened distribution of ions of any given protein due to the incorporation... 

In analyses where molecular masses are being matched, more accurate mass measurements provide more reliable matches and identifications.26,65,66 In a reference laboratory the mass accuracy to several decimal points, provided by a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass analyzer, may be desirable. In field or portable systems there is usually a trade-off in mass accuracy for size and ruggedness. Reliable identifications can be made with moderate mass accuracy, even 1 Da, if a large enough suite of molecular ions is recorded and used to search the database. If both positive ion and negative ion spectra are... 

In LC-MS, specific ionisation conditions can be required for different types of species. This means that in LC-MS studies on extractable additives, it is necessary to use a range of experimental conditions to cover detection of all types of potential species. Depending on instrument type, it is also possible to isolate ions in complex matrices and obtain positive identifications by further unique fragmentation of these ions (by MS-MS or MSn). Quantitative methods based on this secondary ionisation can be employed. The mass accuracy of LC-MS detection systems continues to improve. Accurate mass measurement improves the certainty of identification. Advanced systems are typically offering 1-2 ppm (mass dependent) mass accuracy. 

MS equipment is evaluated on several performance metrics. Mass accuracy, mass resolution, and mass range are standard parameters frequently assessed to determine the suitability of an instrument. Mass accuracy is defined as the extent to which a mass analyzer reflects true m/z values and is measured in atomic mass units (amu), parts per million (ppm), or percent accuracy. 

The m/z values of peptide ions are mathematically derived from the sine wave profile by the performance of a fast Fourier transform operation. Thus, the detection of ions by FTICR is distinct from results from other MS approaches because the peptide ions are detected by their oscillation near the detection plate rather than by collision with a detector. Consequently, masses are resolved only by cyclotron frequency and not in space (sector instruments) or time (TOF analyzers). The magnetic field strength measured in Tesla correlates with the performance properties of FTICR. The instruments are very powerful and provide exquisitely high mass accuracy, mass resolution, and sensitivity—desirable properties in the analysis of complex protein mixtures. FTICR instruments are especially compatible with ESI29 but may also be used with MALDI as an ionization source.30 FTICR requires sophisticated expertise. Nevertheless, this technique is increasingly employed successfully in proteomics studies. 

Mass Accuracy Difference between measured and actual mass [3]. Can be expressed either in absolute or relative terms. 

The orbitrap is the most recently invented mass analyzer. Like with the QIT, ions are trapped and stored in a potential well. However, instead of ejecting the ions for external detection the frequency of the trapped oscillationg ions is measured. This method provides substantially better resolution and mass accuracy in normal operation. 

Biomolecular MS and in particular MALDI-TOF-MS (see Sections 2.1.22 and 2.2.1) permit the routine analysis of oligonucleotides up to 70-mers, intact nucleic acids, and the direct detection of DNA products with no primer labels with an increase in analysis speed and mass accuracy especially in contrast to traditional DNA separation techniques such as slab gels or capillary electrophoresis. Applications focus on the characterization of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and short tandem repeats (STRs). Precise and accurate gene expression measurements show relative and absolute numbers of target molecules determined independently of the number of PCR cycles. DNA methylation can be studied quantitatively. 

Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR) is a very high-resolution mass spectral method (105 to 106, with mass accuracy better than 1 ppm), which allows separation and empirical formula measurement of potentially thousands of metabolites without chromatic separation. 

High-resolution and accurate mass measurements are closely related to each other because the obtainable mass accuracy also depends on sufficiently resolved peaks. Nevertheless, they should not be confused, as performing a measurement at high resolution alone does not equally imply measuring the accurate mass. 

The mass accuracy is defined as the difference between measured accurate mass and calculated exact mass. The mass accuracy can be stated as absolute units of u (or mmu) or as relative mass accuracy in ppm, i.e., absolute mass accuracy divided by the mass it is determined for. As mass spectrometers tend to have similar absolute mass accuracies over a comparatively wide range, absolute mass accuracy represents a more meaningful way of stating mass accuracies than the more trendy use of ppm. 

It has been stated that measured accurate masses when used to assign molecular formulae should always be accompanied by their mass accuracies. [34] Ideally, this can be done by giving the mean mass value and the corresponding error in terms of standard deviation as obtained from several repeated measurements of the same ion. [35] This is definitely not identical to the error which is usually provided with the listing from mass spectrometer data systems, where an error is given as the difference of calculated and measured mass value. 

So far, the concepts of exact mass, mass accuracy and resolution have been introduced without considering the means by which accurate mass measurements can be realized. The key to this problem is mass calibration. Resolution alone can separate ions of different m/z value, but it does not automatically include the information where on the m/z axis the respective signals precisely are located. 

The question remains whether the mass of the electron m (0.548 mmu) has really to been taken into account in accurate mass work as demanded by the lUPAC convention (Chap. 3.1.4). This issue was almost only of academic interest as long as mass spectrometry never yielded mass accuracies better than several mmu. Nowadays, extremely accurate FT-ICR instruments become more widespread in use, and thus, the answer depends on the intended application The electron mass has to be included in calculations if the result is expected to report the accurate mass of the ion with highest accuracy. Here, neglecting the electron mass would cause an systematic error of the size of m. This cannot be tolerated when mass measurement accuracies in the order of 1 mmu or better are to be achieved. 

---