Tandem Mass Spectrometry Explained

Tmt belongs to a family of reagents referred to as isobaric mass tags.

Tandem mass spectrometry explained. Tandem mass spectrometry ms ms is an important technique not only in fundamental studies concerning the behavior and structure of gas phase ions but especially in most analytical applications of ms. Tandem mass spectrometry ms ms tandem ms or ms ms msn is a technique to break down selected ions precursor ions into fragments product ions. The following scheme explains how tandem ms works. In tandem mass spectrometry a biomolecule of interest is isolated from a biological sample and then fragmented into multiple subunits in order to help elucidate its composition and sequence.

The principle of tandem mass spectrometry tandem mass spectrometry is based on coupling mass spectrometers together in a series to analyze complex mixtures. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer tqms is a tandem mass spectrometer consisting of two quadrupole mass analyzers in series with a non mass resolving radio frequency rf only quadrupole between them to act as a cell for collision induced dissociation. The history of ms ms can be considered to go back to the observation and explanation of metastable ions by hipple and condon in 1945. Tandem mass spectrometry also known as ms ms or ms 2 is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more mass spectrometers are coupled together using an additional reaction step to increase their abilities to analyse chemical samples.

The fragments then reveal aspects of the chemical structure of the precursor ion. This is accomplished by having mass spectrometers in series. One such method involves colliding the ions with a stream of inert gas which is known as collision induced dissociation cid or higher energy collision dissociation hcd. Average mass the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule e g.

In this approach distinct ions of interest are in a quadrupole filter based on their m z during the first round of ms and are fragmented by a number of different dissociation methods. C 12 0111 h 1 0079 o 15 9994. The method uses two mass filters arranged sequentially with a collision cell between them. Monoisotopic mass the sum of the exact masses of the most abundant stable isotope of the atoms that make up a molecule e g.

How a mass spectrometer works the basic principle if something is moving and you subject it to a sideways force instead of moving in a straight line it will move in a curve deflected out of its original path by the sideways force. Tandem mass spectrometry ms ms tandem mass spectrometry ms ms offers additional information about specific ions.