A segmented radiofrequency-only quadrupole collision cell for measurements of ion collision cross section on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

The gas collision cell of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer has been modified to consist of ten short quadrupole rod segments that allow an axial field to be applied to the cell in order to make measurements of ion mobility. The radiofrequency (rf)-quadrupole field provides effective radial confinement that greatly reduces diffusional losses at low pressure. The mobilities of mass-selected ions from an ionspray source have been measured at a pressure of 8 × 10^?3 torr at electric fields of 0. 1 to 3 V/cm, and used to calculate the collision cross sections of the ions. The measured cross sections compare well with those measured by other techniques.     

Collision of molecular anions of benzenedicarboxylic esters with oxygen in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

A series of symmetrical phthalate, isophthalate, and terephthalate ester molecular anions were reacted with oxygen in the collision cell of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer to produce characteristic [M − R]⁻ fragments that can be used to identify these compounds. The [M − R]⁻/M^−· intensity ratios decreased for homologous esters in the following order: phthalates > isophthalates terephthalates. Based on the [M − R]⁻ ion intensities for different alkyl substituents, on ¹⁸O₂ labeling experiments, and on the reactivity of bis(t-butylcyclohexyl)phthalates, it was concluded that M − R anions are generated through an S_N2 nucleophilic displacement at the alpha carbon of the saturated alkyl substituent. For the phenyl ester, the reaction proceeds through attack at the carbonyl carbon.     

Novel ion mobility setup combined with collision cell and time-of-flight mass spectrometer

An ion mobility cell of a novel type was coupled to an orthogonal injection time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. The mobility cell operates at low-pressure and contains a segmented RF ion guide providing an axial electric field that drives the ions towards the exit. A flow of gas is arranged inside the ion guide in such a way that the gas drag counteracts the force exerted by the axial field. Ions with different mobility coefficients can be scanned out of the ion guide by ramping the axial field strength. The ions can be analyzed intact or fragmented in a collision cell before introduction into an orthogonal TOF mass spectrometer. An ion source with matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) was attached to the instrument. The setup was evaluated for the analysis of peptide and protein mixture, with sequential fragmentation of multiple precursor ions from a protein digest and with mobility separation of fragment ions formed by in-source fragmentation of pure peptides. The mobility resolution for peptides was observed to be three times higher than the theoretical resolution predicted for a classical mobility setup with similar operating conditions (pressure, field strength, and length).     

Metal-metal chelate exchange reactions in the ion source of a mass spectrometer

In the mass spectra of several transition metal chelates with diethyldithiocarbamate as a ligand, intense peaks are present which could be assigned to extraneous metal (particularly nickel) containing ions. Using an Au-Rh coated ion source, evidence was obtained for the occurrence of exchange reactions in the region of the filament assembly.     

Electron transfer dissociation in the hexapole collision cell of a hybrid quadrupole-hexapole Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer

Electron transfer dissociation (ETD) of proteins is demonstrated in a hybrid quadrupole-hexapole Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (Qh-FTICRMS). Analyte ions are selected in the mass analyzing quadrupole, accumulated in the hexapole linear ion trap, reacted with fluoranthene reagent anions, and then analyzed via an FTICR mass analyzer. The hexapole trap allows for a broad fragment ion mass range and a high ion storage capacity. Using a 3 T FTICRMS, resolutions of 60 000 were achieved with mass accuracies averaging below 1.4 ppm. The high resolution, high mass accuracy ETD spectra provided by FTICR obviates the need for proton transfer reaction (PTR) charge state reduction of ETD product ions when analyzing proteins or large peptides. This is demonstrated with the ETD of ubiquitin and apomyoglobin yielding sequence coverages of 37 and 20%, respectively. We believe this represents the first reported successful combination of ETD and a FTICRMS.     

MS3 using the collision cell of a tandem mass spectrometer system

We report the feasibility of multistage fragmentation in combination with a fast background subtraction method, yielding the equivalent of MS3. The first quadrupole selects an ion of interest, and the ion is axially accelerated into Q2 to generate fragment ions. Subsequent stages of mass selection and fragmentation are obtained by quadrupolar resonant excitation within the Q2 collision cell. The fragments are analyzed downstream by either a resolving quadrupole or a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer, and multistage spectra are obtained by subtraction (MS(n) - MS(n-1)) for n = 3 or 4. We discuss the characterization of this method, including product ion arrival times, fragmentation efficiencies, and ion selectivity. We report accurate TOF mass spectra of background-subtracted MS3 for protonated molecules reserpine (m/z 609), bosentan (m/z 1552), and taxol (m/z 854).     

Desorption ionization/tandem mass spectrometry with a caesium ion source and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

The coupling of a caesium ion source to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer is described. The potential of this combination for examining thermally labile, non-volatile molecules, such as thiamine hydrochloride, is examined. Emphasis is placed on the advantages the various scanning modes of tandem mass spectrometry provide in ion structure elucidation and the investigation of desorption ionization mechanisms. Use of the caesium ion source for desorption of neutral molecules which are chemically ionized by an auxiliary gas is demonstrated. This procedure may be especially useful for examining non-volatile, non-ionic samples.     

Conformer selection of protein ions by ion mobility in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

Electrospray mass spectra of multiply charged protein molecules show two distinct charge state distributions proposed to correspond to a more highly charged, open conformational form and a lower charged, folded form. Elastic collisions carried out in the radiofrequency-only collision cell of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer have dramatic effects on the appearance of the mass spectra. The different cross sectional areas of the conformers allow preferential selection of one charge state distribution over the other on the basis of ion mobility. Preferential selection is dependent on the nature and pressure of the target gas as well as the nature of the protein. In the case of positively charged horse heart apomyoglobin (MW 16,951 da), a high charge state distribution centered around (M + 20H)²⁰⁺ predominates at low target gas pressures and a second distribution centered around (M + 10H)¹⁰⁺ predominates at high target gas pressures. Bimodal distributions are observed at intermediate pressures and, remarkably, charge states between the two distributions are not effectively populated under most of the conditions examined. Hard sphere collision calculations show large differences in collision frequencies and in the corresponding kinetic energy losses for the two conformational states and they demonstrate that the observed charge state selectivity can be explained through elastic collisions.     

Influence of collision gas on doubly charged ion mass spectra

The influence of the collision gas on doubly charged ion mass spectra of a selected number of hydrocarbons has been examined. Relative abundances of various product ions in 2E spectra, resulting from charge exchange collisions of doubly charged hydrocarbon ions, do not vary drastically as the collision gas is varied. However, the absolute intensities of these doubly charged ion mass spectra increase significantly when the collision gas is changed from argon to methane to isobutane. Tbese observations are rationalized in terms of a multichannel diabatic curve crossing model.     

Quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in the electron-capture negative ion mode as detector for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

A recently introduced rapid-scanning quadrupole mass spectrometer (qMS) with an electron-capture negative ion (ECNI) option, the Perkin-Elmer Clarus 500, was tested as a detector for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC). The parameters influencing the data acquisition rate in the scan mode, such as scan time and inter-scan delay, and in the selected ion monitoring mode, such as dwell time and inter-channel delay, were evaluated. In the scan mode, good-quality mass spectra covering a range of 300 Da can be obtained at an acquisition rate of 23 Hz; in selected ion monitoring, an acquisition rate of 90Hz can be achieved when monitoring a single ion. Compared with electron ionisation, the use of electron-capture negative ionisation causes no extra peak broadening. As applications, mixtures of polychlorinated n-alkanes (PCAs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were analysed. The separation of PCAs based on their number of chlorine substituents was confirmed for the first time by using GC x GC-ECNI qMS in the scan mode and a significantly improved limit of detection was achieved for BDEs (10-150 fg injected) and CDD/Fs (10-700 fg injected) in the selected ion monitoring mode.     

Surface-induced dissociation of molecular ions in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer

A method is reported by which surface-induced dissociation is used to activate ions stored in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. The method employs a short (< 5 μs), fast-rising (< 20-ns rise time), high voltage direct current (dc) pulse, which is applied to the endcaps of a standard Paul-type quadrupole ion trap. This is in contrast to the application of an alternating current (ac) signal normally used to resonantly excite and dissociate ions in the trap. The effect of the dc pulse is to cause the ions rapidly to become unstable in the radial direction and subsequently to collide with the ring electrode. Sufficient internal energy is acquired in this collision to cause high energy fragmentations of relatively intractable molecular ions such as pyrene and benzene. The dissociations of limonene are used to demonstrate that high energy demand processes increase in relative importance in the dc pulse experiment compared with the usual resonance excitation method used to cause activation. The fragments are scanned out of the ion trap using the conventional mass-selective instability scan mode. Simulations of ion motion in the trap provide evidence that surface collisions occur at kinetic energies in the range of tens to several hundred electronvolts. The experiments also demonstrate that production of fragment ions is sensitive to the phase of the main radiofrequency drive voltage at the point when the dc is initiated.     

Coupling of ion-molecule reactions with liquid chromatography on a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer

We report for the first time a coupling of gas-phase ion-molecule reactions with chromatographic separations on a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. The interface was accomplished by using a pulsed valve for the introduction of a volatile neutral into the ion trap. The pulsed valve controller is synchronized with the mass spectrometer software. The setup requires some minor modifications to the vacuum system of the commercial quadrupole ion trap but most of the modifications are external to the mass spectrometer. Two applications of this interface are described: differentiation between two phosphoglucose positional isomers and detection of a phosphopeptide in a peptide mixture. Both applications are using the reactivity of trimethoxyborate towards a phosphate moiety in the negative ion mode. The detection of phosphopeptides hinges on our findings that non-phosphorylated peptide anions do not react with trimethoxyborate. This LC/MS detection can be easily visualized in terms of selected reaction monitoring.     

Generation and reactions of substituted phenide anions in an electrospray triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

Substituted benzoic acid anions undergo decarboxylation in the medium-pressure region of an electrospray ion source yielding in most cases the correspondingly substituted phenide anions in high yield. The location of the anionic center is specified by the position of the carboxylic group. The only exceptions are compounds with substituents containing acidic hydrogen atoms, like OH and NH(2) groups. For such compounds, either an intra- or an intermolecular (mediated by the molecules of methanol or water) proton transfer from the more acidic position to the benzene ring is observed. The generated anions can be selected using the first quadrupole for studying their ion-molecule chemistry in the second quadrupole of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Their reactions with CO(2), O(2), CH(3)COCH(3) and CCl(4) may serve as typical examples. The general applicability of this method for the generation of phenide anions has been confirmed on three different mass spectrometers. Experiments performed using carboxylic acids other then benzoic acid and its derivatives show that this method is not limited to phenide anions and can be used for the generation of a much wider range of carbanions in the gas phase.     

Ion/molecule reactions performed in a miniature cylindrical ion trap mass spectrometer

A recently constructed miniature mass spectrometer, based on a cylindrical ion trap (CIT) mass analyzer, is used to perform ion/molecule reactions in order to improve selectivity for in situ analysis of explosives and chemical warfare agent simulants. Six different reactions are explored, including several of the Eberlin reaction type (M. N. Eberlin and R. G. Cooks, Org. Mass Spectrom., 1993, 28, 679-687) as well as novel gas-phase Meerwein reactions. The reactions include (1) Eberlin transacetalization of the benzoyl, 2,2-dimethyloximinium, and 2,2-dimethylthiooximinium cations with 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane to form 2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolanylium cations, 2,2-dimethylamine-1,3-dioxolanylium cations and the 2,2-dimethylamin-1,3-oxathiolanylium cations, respectively; (2) Eberlin reaction of the phosphonium ion CH3P(O)OCH3+, formed from the chemical warfare agent simulant dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), with 1,4-dioxane to yield the 1,3,2-dioxaphospholanium ion, a new characteristic reaction for phosphate ester detection; (3) the novel Meerwein reaction of the ion CH3P(O)OCH3+ with propylene sulfide forming 1,3,2-oxathionylphospholanium ion; (4) the Meerwein reaction of the benzoyl cation with propylene oxide and propylene sulfide to form 4-methyl-2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane and its thio analog, respectively; (5) ketalization of the benzoyl cation with ethylene glycol to form the 2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolanylium cation; (6) addition/NO2 elimination involving benzonitrile radical cation in reaction with nitrobenzene to form an arylated nitrile, a diagnostic reaction for explosives detection and (7) simple methanol addition to the C7H7+ ion, formed by NO2 loss from the molecular ion of p-nitrotoluene to form an intact adduct. Evidence is provided that these reactions occur to give the products described and their potential analytical utility is discussed.     

Chelate-forming reactions of thiurams and sodium dialkyldithiocarbamates in an ion source of a mass spectrometer

Tetraalkylthiuram sulfides and sodium dialkyldithiocarbamates reacted with the metals (Fe, Ni, Cr and Cu) present in the ion source of a mass spectrometer to give their metal complexes.