Triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer

Selection of a suitable ionisation method is important in the success of mixture analysis by MS/MS, as clearly shown by Chen and Her [23]. Ideally, only molecular ions should be produced for each of the compounds in the mixture. For this reason, the softest ionisation technique is often the best choice in the analysis of mixtures with MS/MS. In addition to softness , selectivity is an important factor in the selection of the ionisation technique. In polymer/additive analysis it is better to choose an ionisation technique which responds preferentially to the analytes over the matrix, because the polymer extract often consists of additives as well as a low-MW polymer matrix (oligomers). Few other reports deal with direct tandem MS analysis of extracts of polymer samples [229,231,232], DCI-MS/MS (B/E linked scan with CID) was used for direct analysis of polymer extracts and solids [69]. In comparison with FAB-MS, much less fragmentation was observed with DCI using NH3 as a reagent gas. The softness and lack of matrix effect make ammonia DCI a better ionisation technique than FAB for the analysis of additives directly from the extracts. Most likely due to higher collision energy, product ion mass spectra acquired with a double-focusing mass spectrometer provided more structural information than the spectra obtained with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. 

Figeys, D. Aebersold, R. High sensitivity identification of proteins by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry inital comparison between an ion trap mass spectrometer and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Electrophoresis 1997,18, 360-368. 

Multiple mass analyzers exist that can perform tandem mass spectrometry. Some use a tandem-in-space configuration, such as the triple quadrupole mass analyzers illustrated (Fig.3.9). Others use a tandem-in-time configuration and include instruments such as ion-traps (ITMS) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS or FTMS). A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer can only perform the tandem process once for an isolated precursor ion (e.g., MS/MS), but trapping or tandem-in-time instruments can perform repetitive tandem mass spectrometry (MS ), thus adding n 1 degrees of structural characterization and elucidation. When an ion-trap is combined with HPLC and photodiode array detection, the net result is a profiling tool that is a powerful tool for both metabolite profiling and metabolite identification. 

Fig. 7. Protein identification with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Fragment spectra of several peptides are generated during one investigation. From the fragment spectra short sequence stretches can be read. Together with their mass location in the peptide of the measured mass, they can be used to specifically identify a protein in the database. Because the protein identification depends only on one peptide, several proteins can be identified from one sample.

The most common types of MS/MS instruments available to researchers in food chemistry include triple quadrupole mass spectrometers and ion traps. Less common but commercially produced tandem mass spectrometers include magnetic sector instruments, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometers, and quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) hybrid instruments (Table A.3A.1). Beginning in 2001, TOF-TOF tandem mass spectrometers became available from instrument manufacturers. These instruments have the potential to deliver high-resolution tandem mass spectra with high speed and should be compatible with the chip-based chromatography systems now under development. 

Stenhoff et al. [117] determined enantiomers of omeprazole in blood plasma by normal-phase liquid chromatography and detection by atmospheric-pressure ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The enantioselec-tive assay of omeprazole is using normal-phase liquid chromatography on a Chiralpak AD column and detection by mass spectrometry. Omeprazole is extracted by a mixture of dichloromethane and hexane and, after evaporation, redissolution and injection, separated into its enantiomers on the chiral stationary phase. Detection is made by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, using deuterated analogs and internal standards. The method enables determination in plasma down to 10 nmol/1 and shows excellent consistency suited for pharmacokinetic studies in man. 

Martens-Lobenhoffer et al. [119] used chiral HPLC-atmospheric pressure photoionization tandem mass-spectrometric method for the enantio-selective quantification of omeprazole and its main metabolites in human serum. The method features solid-phase separation, normal phase chiral HPLC separation, and atmospheric pressure photoionization tandem mass spectrometry. The internal standards serve stable isotope labeled omeprazole and 5-hydroxy omeprazole. The HPLC part consists of Agilent 1100 system comprising a binary pump, an autosampler, a thermo-stated column component, and a diode array UV-VIS detector. The enantioselective chromatographic separation took place on a ReproSil Chiral-CA 5 ym 25 cm x 2 mm column, protected by a security guard system, equipped with a 4 mm x 2-mm silica filter insert. The analytes were detected by a Thermo Scientific TSQ Discovery Max triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, equipped with an APPI ion source with a... 

The use of tandem mass spectrometers can eliminate the sample preparation steps and provide improved capabilities for MS analysis. One system, the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, uses a combination of three quadrupoles, or mass analyzers, to ionize, separate, and analyze sample components with minimum sample preparation as shown in Figures 7 and 8. The sample components are ionized and separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio in the first quadrupole. This step corresponds to the GC step in GC/MS. In the second quadrupole these ions collide with an inert gas and fragment (chemical ionization). 

R.A. YOST and C.G. ENKE build the first triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, one of the most popular types of tandem instrument [48]. 

Tandem mass spectrometry or MS/MS is frequently used for structural elucidation of phytochemicals to provide more detailed information about the structure and composition of a molecule. This involves two mass spectral steps and fragmentation of the compound occurs between the steps. The two steps may be separated in space or in time depending on whether two distinct separation elements are used (space) or two different separations occur in the same place over time. As described previously, an IT analyzer can be used to successively fragment a molecule to provide MS" spectra, an example of separation in time. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer is a form of tandem mass spectrometry in space in which two quadrupoles serve as mass filters while a third, positioned in the middle, allows for collision-induced dissociation. Triple quadrupoles are common in phytochemical analysis, and have been used to characterize phenolic compounds in fruit juices (Abad-Garcia et ah, 2009) and procyanidins and alkaloids in cocoa (Ortega et ah, 2010), among others. 

A quadrupole is small and relatively inexpensive. It serves as an excellent collision cell for collision activations of ions and ion/molecule reactions. It can also be used as a broadband ion transmission device. A quadrupole is readily coupled with other mass analyzers for MS/MS experiments. One of the most popular configurations is a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer that has found wide applications in LC/MS and LC/MS/MS (see section on Tandem MS). 

The triple quadrupole mass spectrometer is generally considered as the most versatile of all tandem MS instruments and is useful in the initial evaluation of metabolites for a new compound. ° Several types of... 

The introduction of the open-tubular columns eliminated the need for concentrating devices as the mass spectrometer pumping system could cope with the entire column eluent. Consequently, the column eluent could be passed directly into the mass spectrometer and the total sample can enter the ionization source. The first mass spectrometer used in a GC-MS tandem system was a rapid-scanning magnetic sector instrument that easily provided a resolution of one mass unit. Contemporary mass spectrometers have vastly improved resolution and the most advanced system (involving the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer) gives high in-line sensitivity, selectivity, and resolution. 

Tandem MS. The thermospray HPLC/MS/MS was performed on a Finnigan MAT TSQ-46C triple quadrupole mass spectrometer interfaced to an INCOS Data System (Finnigan MAT, San Jose, CA). The triple quadrupole was operated with the first and second quadrupoles in the RF mode during HPLC/MS operation. For HPLC/MS/MS analysis, the first quadrupole selected the [M+H] ion of the compound, while the third quadrupole was scanned over the mass range of 12-300 daltons. The second quadrupole serves as a collision chamber. Argon collision gas was added to the enclosed chamber of this quadrupole to give a pressure of 2 mtorr for collisional activation of the sample ions. 

The most widely used tandem mass analyzer for bioanalysis is the triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer (TQMS). In the TQMS format, a characteristic fragmentation transition is monitored for an analyte with more than one mass filter in combination, hence the term MS/MS. A diagram of a TQMS is presented in Figure 11.2. A TQMS consists of two mass selecting quadrupoles, Qi and Q3, and flanked by a center quadrupole (Q2) that acts as a collision cell. Since Q2 is operated in the RF-only mode, mass selection is not performed in this region. The Q2 rods are important, however, since they refocus ions... 

Triple quadrupole mass spectrometers can perform tandem mass scan experiments in various modes including product ion (MS/MS), precursor ion, and neutral loss scan and SRM experiments, but they cannot be used for sequential MS" experiments. The high sensitivity and specificity, in the SRM mode, have made triple quadrupole mass spectrometers a logical choice for metabolic stability experiments performed at relevant substrate concentrations. Despite the sensitivity of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometers, when an NCE or an NCE series exhibit unacceptable PK properties, metabolite identification studies are often initiated as follow-up studies in a separate set of experiments using incubation concentrations higher than the Km of an NCE. Incubations at higher concentrations are required because conventional metabolite identification experiments required operation of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in the full-scan mode, which results in poor duty cycle and diminished sensitivity [287,288],... 

---