High resolution mass spectrometer with headspace gas chromatography and LIFDI ion source

• Subject Area: Biological Chemistry and Food Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 572397483

The University of Hamburg is home of the Technology Platform Mass Spectrometry (TPMS) which integrates two core facilities. In order to support the research strategy of the Department of Chemistry, the Core Facility General Mass Spectrometry (CFMS) will be reinforced by the installation of two new mass spectrometers, coupled to liquid and gas chromatography respectively. Both devices are complementary and will be submitted in two separate applications. In this application, a GC-HR-MS (gas chromatography high resolution mass spectrometer) with headspace sampler and a LIFDI (liquid injection field desorption ionization) ion source together with a glovebox for inert sample injection is requested to be set up at the CFMS. The instrument will be used primarily for research purposes by groups focusing on metabolomics and in the field of inorganic chemistry. It will also replace an old GC-EI-quadrupole instrument. The instrument will be first of its kind at University of Hamburg to use state-of-the-art LIFDI ionization technology for the injection of air-sensitive analytes. This technology is in high demand among research groups involved in synthetic chemistry, particularly in the field of inorganic chemistry. It will be used for projects in various research groups for the characterization of moist and air sensitive inorganic complexes or reaction intermediates under inert conditions. Until now it has not been possible to characterize these substances at the University of Hamburg, meaning that research groups have lacked important insights for their synthesis. In addition, the system generally enables high resolution mass spectrometry of volatile substances. Until now, the University of Hamburg does not have a high-resolution GC-MS instrument. In addition to a number of other areas of work, there are a couple of questions in the field of food research (Hamburg School of Food Science – Institute of Food Chemistry) that require high-resolution analyses of volatile fractions, including for authentication purposes. The instrument’s focus on very volatile analytes is enhanced by the headspace autosampler which enables gas phase to be injected into the GC. This technique will be used in particular in various projects investigating volatile substances from difficult matrices. These include metabolomics for food authentication (food chemistry), small molecule reaction products taken directly from the reaction (inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry) and volatile metabolomes from biological (aqueous) matrices (organic chemistry, medical research, biology).

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochauflösendes Massenspektrometer mit Headspace-Gaschromatographie und LIFDI-Ionenquelle
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Leader: Professor Dr. Markus Fischer