Qualitative flexibility combined with quantitative power

Using the ZenoTOF 7600 system, powered by SCIEX OS Software

Abstract

ZenoTOF 7600 system technical overview, providing an overview of the hardware innovations and some application examples. Highlights include increased sensitivity with Zeno MS/MS, with > 90% duty cycle across the entire MS/MS mass range, and electron activated dissociation (EAD) for tunable free electron-based dissociation for added flexibility during compound identification.

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Introduction

The key to achieving robust analytical results lies in the combination of sensitivity, selectivity, and specificity. Sensitivity ensures there is plenty of signal to identify and quantify analytes of interest. Selectivity differentiates analyte signal from noise and interferences. Specificity ensures compound identifications are accurate and confident. The technological advancements in the ZenoTOF 7600 system combine qualitative flexibility and quantitative power for the most demanding sample types and workflows.

A hybrid collision cell is at the heart of the technological advancements in the ZenoTOF 7600 system. Previously,  QTOF mass spectrometers have suffered from duty cycle losses as a result of mating time-of-flight (TOF) analysis, a pulsed measurement technique, with the continuous beam coming from the quadrupole ion path. A series of ion-staging events and reverse-mass sequential ion release, with high-capacity ion traps, allow for duty cycle losses to be mitigated and for MS/MS sensitivity gains of 4-20x.1 The cell also has the ability to perform both collision induced dissociation (CID) and electron activated dissociation (EAD) experiments for high-resolution MS/MS flexibility. Electron kinetic energies can be precisely tuned from 0-25 eV without the use of chemical transfer reagents. This tunability means EAD can be performed on a wide array of analytes, from multiply-charged peptides to singly-charged small molecules.2 The ability of the EAD cell to contain a high density of electrons allows for rapid reaction rates that keep up with fast chromatographic separations. 

Figure 1. EAD MS/MS spectra of melittin with and without the Zeno trap activated. MS/MS spectra enhanced by using the Zeno trap (top, blue) shows 5-10x improvement in sensitivity across the mass range compared to the EAD MS/MS spectrum acquired without the Zeno trap activated (bottom, pink), with negligible changes to noise. EAD yields significant sequence coverage for structural elucidation.

Key innovations in the SCIEX ZenoTOF 7600 system 

  • Zeno trap provides an increase to ≥90% duty cycle across the entire mass range for MS/MS acquisition modes (Zeno IDA and Zeno MRMHR)
  • MS/MS sensitivity improvements from 4-20x
  • Reagent-free and tunable, high-efficiency electron activated dissociation (EAD) fragmentation in the EAD cell, offering alternative fragmentation for both small and large molecules workflows
  • New levels of specificity with various electron-based dissociation techniques
  • Richer fragmentation for improved structural information.
  • Greater than 5 orders of inter-scan linear dynamic range and 4 orders of intra-scan linear dynamic range in both MS and MS/MS modes
  • Pre-optimized performance to easily switch between high flow, microflow and nanoflow rates with the OptiFlow Turbo V ion source

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