Department of Chemistry
The Johns Hopkins University
138 Remsen Hall
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

John P. Toscano
Department Chair

Phone 410-516-7429
Fax 410-516-8420
chemdept@jhu.edu

LCQ Deca Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (Thermo Finnigan, USA)

The LCQ is an ion-trap based instrument normally fitted with an electrospray (ESI) ionization source (APCI is also available if required). It is capable of operating in both positive and negative ion modes and is primarily used to analyze bio-molecules in solution such as proteins, peptides, biopolymers and oligonucleotides. The instrument is particularly useful for structural characterization of such species due to its ability to perform multiple stage (MSⁿ) ion fragmentation analyses (up to 10 stages), allowing ion-mapping experiments to be conducted. It is also useful for analysis of high mass species that form multiply charged ions with ESI (such as proteins, peptides) due to the post-acquisition de-convolution capability of the operating software. It can be operated on a stand-alone basis with solution samples introduced by direct infusion using a syringe pump, or integrated with a Finnigan Surveyor LC system for LCMS applications. Guidelines for ESI sample preparation and user instructions for this instrument can be found here. This instrument is located in Room B14, Remsen Hall.