LC MS Instrument

Comprising two components, a liquid-phase separation system and a mass spectrometer, liquid chromatograph mass spectrometers (LC MS instruments) couple sample fractionation and analysis. The separation can be accomplished via standard liquid chromatography, HPLC, UPLC, or even nano-LC. Any liquid-phase separation will do, so long as its output can be directed into the mass analyzer (for instance, via an electrospray ionization source). The mass spectrometer is similarly flexible, ranging from the simplest single quadrupole to a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance instrument. Just remember, in a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer the column flow is continuous, meaning the mass analyzer must be fast enough to thoroughly analyze one peak before the next one comes off the column. And, unlike with MALDI MS, once a peak is analyzed, it’s gone.