UA Logo

Mass Spectrometry Facility

EB-38, Department of Chemistry,
University of Alberta,
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6G 2G2

There are currently eleven mass spectrometers housed in the mass spectrometry laboratory covering most ionisation techniques from electron impact to MALDI.

Instrument Year
Acquired		 Ionisation Source(s)
Analyser		 Image

Agilent Technologies 1100MSD

On-line reservation

1998

± ES LCMS
Single Quadrupole
(Q)

HP1100MSD

Agilent Technologies 6220 oaTOF

2009

± ES MS
Orthogonal TOF
(oaTOF)

6220 TOF

AB Sciex QTRAP 2000

2010

± ES MS
Triple Quadrupole - Linear Ion Trap
(QqQ(LIT))

QTRAP

Bruker 9.4T Apex-Qe FTICR

2005

± ES / MALDI MS/MS
Quadrupole FTICR
(Qq FTICR)

Bruker FTMS

Waters (Micromass) Q-TOF Premier

2005

± ES LCMS/MS
Quadrupole TOF
(QqTOF)

Q-TOF Premier

AB Sciex Voyager Elite MALDI

On-line reservation

2000

± MALDI MS
Time-of-Flight
(TOF)

Voyager Elite

Bruker Ultraflextreme MALDI TOF/TOF

2010

± MALDI MS
MS/MS
(TOF/TOF)

TOFTOF

Agilent Technologies 5975C MSD

2007

+ EI GCMS
Single Quadrupole
(Q)

5975C MSD

Kratos Analytical MS-50G

1975

+ EI MS
Double Focussing Sector
(E B)

Kratos MS50

Kratos Analytical MS-50B

1988

+ EI MS
HR GCMS
Double Focussing Sector
(E B)

Kratos MS50

Waters (Micromass) 7070E

1984

± EI/CI MS
LR GCMS
(E B)

VG 7070e


Agilent Technologies 1100 HPLC with G1946A MSD
MANUFACTURER: Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA, USA) (formerly Hewlett-Packard).
IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion ESI
INSTRUMENT: Single Quadrupole MS
OPERATING MODES:
  • Full-scan MS
  • SIM MS
M/Z RANGE: m/z 50 to 3000
RESOLVING POWER: Unit mass resolution over mass range
MASS ACCURACY: ± 0.2u
INLET(S): Agilent 1100 HPLC System (Agilent Technologies) including:
  • G1312A Binary HPLC Pump with SSV (flow range: from 0.1 to 1 mL/min)
  • G1313A ALS Autosampler (holds 100 samples)
  • G1314A VWD Variable Wavelength Detector (range: 190nm to 390nm)
DATA SYSTEM: ChemStation LC/MSD A.10.02 on Windows XP
Pentium IV 3.0 GHz CPU with 2GB RAM
APPLICATIONS: Analysis of involatile or labile compounds via flow-injection or LCMS including:
  • small molecules (organic and organometallic)
  • peptides and proteins
  • organic and inorganic polymers
ACQUISITION DATE: August 1998 (upgraded in March 2009 to a G1946D)
FUNDING:

Agilent Technologies 6220 oaTOF
MANUFACTURER: Agilent Technologies Santa Clara California, USA
IONISATION MODES:
  • +ve and -ve ion ESI (1 to 100 µL/min)
  • +ve and -ve ion Atmospheric Pressure Photoionisation (100 to 1000µL/min)
INSTRUMENT:
  • orthogonal acceleration TOF (oaTOF)
    • OPERATING MODES:
    • Full-scan MS (high-resolution analysis) with two-point lock mass correction
    M/Z RANGE: m/z up to 20,000 MS
    RESOLVING POWER: extended dynamic range mode: ~12,000 fwhm
    high-resolution mode: ~20,000 fwhm
    MASS ACCURACY:
    high-resolution mode: ± 2ppm
    INLET(S): Agilent 1200 SL HPLC System (Agilent Technologies) including:
    • G1312B Binary HPLC Pump with SSV (flow range: from 0.1 to 1 mL/min)
    • G1310A Isocratic Pump with manual injection valve
    • G1379B Micro-vacuum degasser
    • G1367D SL+ ALS Autosampler (holds 100 samples)
    • G1316B Heated Column Compartment with switching valve
    • G1315C SL Diode Array Detector (range: 190nm to 950nm)
    DATA SYSTEM: Windows XP Professional
    Hewlett Packard, 3.0 GHz CPU with 2GB RAM
    4 x 250MB HD RAID 5
    APPLICATIONS: involatile or labile compounds
    • low-resolution analysis
    • high-resolution analysis - including elemental composition of compounds
    • high-resolution LCMS
    ACQUISITION DATE: February 2009
    FUNDING: Western Economic Diversification Canada

    AB Sciex QTRAP 2000
    MANUFACTURER: AB Sciex (Foster City, CA, USA)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion ESI, APCI, APPI
    INSTRUMENT: triple quadrupole - linear ion trap
    OPERATING MODES:
  • MS Full-scan (Q1 or Q3)
  • MS/MS Product ion Scan
  • MS/MS Precursor ion Scan
  • MS/MS Neutral Loss Scan
  • Multiple-Reaction Monitoring (MRM)
  • MS/MS/MS
  • Enhanced MS (EMS)
  • Enhanced Resolution (ER)
  • Enhance Multi-charge (EMC)
    • M/Z RANGE: up to m/z 2,000
    RESOLVING POWER: unit resolution
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 0.2 u
    INLET(S):
    • G1379A Micro-vacuum degasser
    • G1312A Binary HPLC Pump with SSV (flow range: from 0.1 to 1 mL/min)
    • G1367A ALS Thermostatted Autosampler (holds 100 samples)
    • G1316A Heated Column Compartment
    DATA SYSTEM: (new hardware and software in 2011)
    Acquisition: Analyst 1.5.1
    Analysis: Analyst 1.5.1 with MS/MS libraries
    Dell Optiplex 960, Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 3.00 GHz with 3.46GB RAM
    APPLICATIONS: involatile or labile compounds
    • low resolution analysis
    • MS/MS for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of small molecules
    ACQUISITION DATE: October 2010 (2002 instrument)
    FUNDING:

    Bruker 9.4T Apex-Qe FTICR
    MANUFACTURER: Bruker Daltonics (Billerica, MA, USA)
    IONISATION MODES: Apollo II Dual source provides: +ve and -ve ion ESI and MALDI

    ESI source options:
    • standard source (1 to 100 µL/min)
    • on-line nanospray source (0.1 to 1 µL/min)
    • off-line EZ nanospray Pro V2 source (<1 µL/min)
    INSTRUMENT:
    • Mass Selective Quadrupole MS
    • Hexapole collision cell (ion-accumulation region)
    • FTICR infinity cell
    • Magnet: 9.4T / 110mm bore magnet from Magnex Scientific
    OPERATING MODES:
    • Full-scan MS
    • CID MS/MS
    • SORI MS/MS
    • ECD MS/MS
    • IRMPD MS/MS
    M/Z RANGE: m/z 100 to 10,000
    RESOLVING POWER: >1 Million in narrowband mode
    mass dependent but typically 30,000 to 100,000 in broadband mode
    see the FTICR Calculator for more information
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 2ppm
    INLET(S): Agilent 1100 Capillary HPLC System (Agilent Technologies) including:
    • G1379A Microdegasser
    • G1376A Binary Capillary Pump with SSV (flow range: from 1 to 20 µL/min)
    • G1377A µ-WellPlate Autosampler (holds 2 microtitre plates plus 10 vials)
    • G1365A Multi-Wavelength Detector (MWD)(range: 190nm to 950nm)

    Cole Parmer syringe pump (infusion)
    DATA SYSTEM: Acquisition: ApexControl 2.0 on Windows XP Professional
    Analysis: DataAnalysis 3.4
    Dell Precision Workstation 670 Xeon, 2.8GHz CPU with 3GB RAM
    APPLICATIONS: Low-resolution and High-resolution analysis (including elemental composition)

    ESI: (analysis of involatile and lablile compounds, eg. organic, organometallic, peptides, oligosaccharides, etc.)
    • infusion - MS and MS/MS via:
      • CID
      • IRMPD
      • ECD
      • SORI
    • LCMS and LCMS/MS via:
      • CID
      • IRMPD
    MALDI: (analysis of involatile and lablile compounds, eg. peptides, organic (esp. very hydrophobic compounds), oligosaccharides, etc. )
      MS and MS/MS via:
      • CID
      • IRMPD
    ACQUISITION DATE: December 2005 (Instrument is a 2007 model)
    FUNDING:

    Waters Q-TOF Premier
    MANUFACTURER: Waters (Milford, MA, USA) (formerly Micromass, UK)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion ESI, source options:
    • LockSpray source (1 to 1000 µL/min)
    • nanoLockspray source (0.1 to 1 µL/min)
    INSTRUMENT:
    • Mass Selective Quadrupole MS
    • Travelling Wave Ion Guide (TWIG) collision cell
    • orthogonal TOF
    OPERATING MODES:
    • Full-scan MS
    • MS/MS Product Ion Scan
    • MS/MS Precursor Ion Scan
    • MS/MS Constant Neutral Loss Scan
    • Survey Scan for Data-Directed Analysis (DDA)
    M/Z RANGE: m/z up to 100,000 in V MS mode,
    mass selection up to m/z 4,000 for MS/MS
    RESOLVING POWER: 10,000 fwhm in V-mode
    17,500 fwhm in W-mode
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 3ppm
    INLET(S): Waters nanoAcquity UPLC System (Waters) including:
    • Sample Manager (holds 2 x 48 vials or 2 microtitre plates)
    • Binary Solvent Manager (flow range: 0.2 to 100µL/min (gradient))
    • Auxillary Solvent Manager (flow range: 0.2 to 50µL/min)
    Built-in syringe pump (infusion)
    DATA SYSTEM: MassLynx 4.1 on Windows XP Professional
    IBM ThinkCenter M50 Workstation, Pentium IV, 3GHz CPU with 1GB RAM
    APPLICATIONS:
    • MS/MS analysis of peptides:
      • infusion - prepurifed sample, vary collision energy over wide range
      • DDA LCMS/MS - peptides from protein enzymatic digest (Protein Identification)
    • MS analysis of intact proteins by infusion of prepurified sample (determine MW)
    ACQUISITION DATE: March 2005
    FUNDING:

    Bruker Ultraflextreme MALDI TOF/TOF
    MANUFACTURER: Bruker Daltonics (Bremen, GmbH)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion MALDI
    INSTRUMENT:
    • Linear Time-of-Flight MS
    • LIFT collision cell
    • Reflectron Time-of-Flight MS
    OPERATING MODES:
    • Linear MS
    • Reflectron MS
    • Reflectron MS/MS
    M/Z RANGE: m/z up to 400,000 MS and ~5,000 MS/MS
    RESOLVING POWER:
    • Linear MS Mode: 1200 fwhm
    • Reflectron MS Mode: broad mass range >20,000 to 30,000 fwhm
    • MS/MS mode: >2500 fwhm at m/z 700
    MASS ACCURACY:
    • Reflectron MS Mode: ± 5ppm external and ± 1.5 ppm internal
    • MS/MS mode: ± 0.05Da
    INLET(S): Proteineer FC with Easy nanoLC (Bruker Daltonics) including:
    • MALDI Sample targets - 384 spot stainless steel or Bruker's anchorChip™ targets
    • Proteineer FC II - sample spotting robot, holds 4 MALDI targets
    • Easy nanoLC - ThermoScientific / Proxeon - splitless flow nanoHPLC
    DATA SYSTEM: Acquisition: FlexControl with WARP-LC
    Data Analysis: FlexAnalysis and BioTools
    Windows XP Professional
    HP xw4600, 3GHz Core 2 Duo CPU with 3.5GB RAM
    APPLICATIONS:
    • MALDI MS of small and large molecules
    • MALDI MS/MS of complex peptide mixtures for identification
    ACQUISITION DATE: April 2010
    FUNDING:

    AB Sciex Voyager Elite MALDI
    MANUFACTURER: AB Sciex (Foster City, CA, USA)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion MALDI
    INSTRUMENT: Time-of-Flight equipped with:
    • Pulsed Nitrogen laser (337nm) (3ns pulse - up to 300 µJ/pulse)
    • delayed-extraction - improved resolution and mass accuracy
    • reflectron (ion mirror) - improved resolution and mass accuracy
    OPERATING MODES: "Full-scan" MS
    M/Z RANGE: up to m/z 400,000
    RESOLVING POWER: mass dependent:
    • 5000 fwhm, up to m/z 3500
    • 1200 fwhm, m/z 3500 to m/z 10,000
    • 800 fwhm, m/z 10,000 to m/z 30,000
    • 80 fwhm, over m/z 30,000
    MASS ACCURACY: mass dependent:
    • ± ~0.2u, up to m/z 3500 (external)
    • ± 0.05%, m/z 3500 to m/z 30,000 (external)
    • ± 0.2%, over m/z 30,000 (external)
    INLET(S): 100 spot MALDI target (MALDI Target stainless steel or gold coated)
    DATA SYSTEM: Acquisition: Voyager Instrument Control Panel 5.0 on Windows NT 4.0
    Analysis: Data Explorer 4.0
    Dell Optiplex GX1 (Pentium III), 500MHz CPU with 128MB RAM
    APPLICATIONS: involatile or labile compounds
    • peptides, proteins (and conjugates)
    • organic, organometallic
    • polymers
    ACQUISITION DATE: January 2000 (1998 instrument)
    FUNDING: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

    Agilent Technologies 7890 GC with 5975C MSD
    MANUFACTURER: Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA, USA)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve ion EI
    INSTRUMENT: Single Quadrupole MS
    OPERATING MODES:
    • Full-scan MS
    • SIM MS
    • SIM / Scan (simultaneous SIM and scan)
    M/Z RANGE: m/z 5 to 1050
    RESOLVING POWER: Unit mass resolution over mass range
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 0.2u
    INLET(S): Agilent 7890A GC System (Agilent Technologies) including:
    • Split / Splitless injection (pulsed splitless available)
    • Electronic flow control (range limited by pumping system of MSD)
    DATA SYSTEM: ChemStation E.01.00 MSD on Windows XP Professional
    HP Compaq Pentium 4, 3.4GHz CPU with 512MB RAM
    APPLICATIONS: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of volatile compounds
    Note: this instrument is used for CHEM 313 in the Fall semester and CHEM 305 in the Winter semester
    ACQUISITION DATE: May 2007
    FUNDING: Faculty of Science (for undergraduate teaching)

    Kratos MS50G
    MANUFACTURER: Kratos Analytical (formerly AEI) now available from Mass Spectrometry International
    IONISATION MODES: +ve ion EI
    INSTRUMENT: Double Focussing Sector (EB)
    OPERATING MODES: High-resolution full-scan MS (pfk as reference)
    M/Z RANGE: up to m/z 1000
    RESOLVING POWER: 10,000 (10% valley) ~20,000 fwhm
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 3ppm
    INLET(S): Direct Insertion Probe Direct Probe (DIP)
    DATA SYSTEM: MASPEC I v14.0 on Windows 98SE
    Pentium II MMX 233MHz CPU with 64MB RAM
    APPLICATIONS: High-resolution analysis (elemental composition) of prepurified semi-volatile compounds
    Note: compound must be thermally stable, labile compounds may give little to no molecular ion
    ACQUISITION DATE: May 1975
    FUNDING: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

    Kratos MS50 with Agilent 6890GC (MS50B)
    MANUFACTURER: Kratos Analytical (formerly AEI) now available from Mass Spectrometry International
    IONISATION MODES: +ve ion EI
    INSTRUMENT: Double Focussing Sector (EB)
    OPERATING MODES:
    • High-resolution (HR) full-scan MS (pfk as reference)
    • Low-resolution GCMS
    • HR SIM GCMS
    M/Z RANGE: up to m/z 2000
    RESOLVING POWER: up to 10,000 (10% valley) ~20,000 fwhm
    MASS ACCURACY: low-resolution mode: ± 0.2u
    high-resolution mode: ± 5ppm
    INLET(S):
    • Direct Insertion Probe Direct Probe (DIP)
    • Agilent 6890 GC System (Agilent Technologies) including:
      • Split / Splitless injection (pulsed splitless available)
      • on-column injection
      • Electronic flow control (upper range limited by pumping system of MS)
    DATA SYSTEM: MASPEC II v1.0 on Windows XP Professional
    Pentium III 500MHz CPU with 128MB RAM
    APPLICATIONS:
    • Low and high-resolution GCMS (full scan)
    • HR SIM GCMS
    • LR direct probe (up to m/z 2000)
    ACQUISITION DATE: February 1988 (1979 instrument)
    FUNDING: donated by Agriculture Canada in Ottawa

    Waters (Micromass) VG7070E with Agilent 5890 Series II GC
    MANUFACTURER: Waters (formerly Micromass)
    IONISATION MODES: +ve and -ve ion EI / CI
    INSTRUMENT: Double Focussing Sector (EB)
    OPERATING MODES:
    • Low-resolution GCMS (EI or CI)
    • Low-resolution direct-insertion probe CI
    M/Z RANGE: up to m/z 1000
    RESOLVING POWER: ~1,000 (10% valley) ~2,000 fwhm
    MASS ACCURACY: ± 0.2u
    INLET(S):
    • Direct Insertion Probe Direct Probe (DIP)
    DATA SYSTEM: MASPEC I v14.0 on Windows 98SE
    Pentium II MMX 233MHz CPU with 64MB RAM
    APPLICATIONS:
    • Low resolution GCMS (full scan) (EI and CI)
    • LR direct probe CI (up to m/z 1000)
    ACQUISITION DATE: May 1984
    FUNDING: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

    For further information, please contact:

    ©1999 University of Alberta
    Last updated: