Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry
Thermo Vanquish Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph [TY 254]
Ultra High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) system equipped with a UltraViolet (UV) detector.
The UHPLC can be fit with different types of column chemistry to separate an enormous variety of compounds. Can do Size Exclusion Chromatography, Ion Exchange Chromatography, Reverse Phase Chromatography, Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography and more. The UV detector allows for a broad range of detectable samples, like biological molecules (proteins, DNA, RNA), and medicinal (aspirin, antibodies, cancer drugs) and food products (caffeine, vitamins).
Example Use Cases:
- Comparison of Vitamins purity in commercially available products
- Analysis of pharmaceutical compounds for similarity and purity
- Quantification of caffeine concentration in human urine samples
Thermo TSQ Endura Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QQQ-MS) [TY 254]
The Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QQQ) is a powerful tool for identifying compounds that are separated by the attached UHPLC. By separating a complex mixture (like human urine), each individual compound within the mixture can be analyzed and identified by comparing the mass to a known library of masses.
The 3 different Quadrupoles can be combined to select a molecule of interest like caffeine and then fragment it to allow for a more detailed investigation of the chemical structure.
Example Use Cases:
- Testing Breast milk for presence of unusual Amino Acids from natural products
- Identification of Caffeine in urine as model for drug analysis
- Breaking a protein down into peptides to check for any amino acid changes or substitutions.
Gas chromatography that is connected with a sensitive mass spectrometer to easily identify peaks of interest. Can be used with volatile to semi-volatile analytes, in matrices ranging from simple air and drinking water to the most complex food and soil/sludge. Uses electron ionization to ionize any components that have been separated by the gas chromatography column to allow for mass detection.
Example Use Cases:
- Measurement of the volatile organic compounds present in our local air and detecting hazardous amounts in workplaces.
- Checking synthesis reactions for the correct products
- Quality control of products for unwanted compounds or contaminants.
Capillary electrophoresis is a type of separation technique that allows for the separation of charged and polar metabolites, peptides, and enables high-resolution separation of proteins and protein-complexes. Uses a similar principle to a poured-gel separation by does it at much smaller scale and higher voltages for faster and better separation.
This is a crticial tool for pharmaceutical companies to demonstrate purity of their drug products. The CESI 8000 can also be connected to the QQQ Mass Spec for mass identification of the molecules of interest.
Example Use Cases:
- Detect Modifications to Antibody drugs or Antibody drug conjugates
- Quality control of DNA sequencing libraries prior to full sequencing runs.
- Concentration analysis of DNA and RNA samples
Gas chromatography allows for the separation and detection of volatile compounds that boil up to 250 degrees C. These compounds can be alcohols that are in liquid form are more volatile compounds that can exist in the headspace of sealed vials. The Flame Ionization Detector (FID) is an extremely sensitive way of detecting these volatile compounds.
Attached autosampler allows for queuing up ~100 samples to automatically run overnight.
Example Use Cases:
- Checking synthesis reactions for the correct products and for any contamination reactants
- Oil and gas analysis of raw materials and finished products.
Another flexible HPLC equipped with a UV detector. No mass detection available, but this instrument can still perform all kinds of separation from reverse phase to size exclusion and detect a wide variety of molecules with UV detection.
Example Use Cases:
- Analyze product purity in many industry
- Identification and quantification of nutrients in blood samples
- Check for illicit drug traces in urine