INSTRUMENT NAME: Micromass GCT GC/EI-CI Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

INSTALLATION DATE: January 2001

OPERATOR: Andreas Breidbach

SYNOPSIS: We acquired our GCT in January of 2001. Both EI and CI sources are routinely used either coupled to the GC or with the solid probe system. The high resolution of the instrument [7000 RMS] coupled with the exact mass [< 5ppm] obtained with only one internal calibrant mass allows for elemental composition to be performed on complex mixtures separated by the gas chromatograph. The instrument thus plays a large role for students and staff of the chemistry department. The original idea behind the purchase of this instrument was to encourage graduate students to run their own exact mass samples. However, due to the high maintenance levels required of the GCT, there are three dedicated operators in the lab and others are discouraged from operating the instrument. Biological quantification assays are also performed, although the instrument has a limited dynamic range, on many compounds including cholesterol, polyamines, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, and steroids. A novel method for analyzing polyamines by negative mode CI has been developed using this instrument. The GCT also plays a large role in Professor Kym Faull’s introductory mass spectrometry class [C108/C208, Mass Spectrometry for Chemists and Biochemists, taught each winter quarter]. The class learns the basics of gas chromatography, electron impact ionization and chemical ionization, and orthogonal time-of-flight analysis by running various biological samples and, as the final lab, a sample of their own urine.




PLEASE REFERENCE GRANT NUMBER CHE 0078299 FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION IN ALL PUBLICATIONS USING DATA AQCUIRED ON THE GCT. THANK YOU!