New High Resolution Electrospray Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer (March 2000)

A high resolution electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (ES-FTICR-MS) has been installed in the Organic and Biological Mass Spectrometry Group of the Chemical and Analytical Sciences Division. This instrument, purchased with funding provided by OBER, incorporates an actively shielded 7.0 Tesla superconducting magnet and cryogenic vacuum pumping system. In late June, the 7.0 T magnet will be replaced with a 9.4 T magnet, which will provide even higher performance with respect to achievable mass range, mass resolution, and sensitivity. The instrument will be employed to characterize the structure of proteins and peptides in collaboration with biological researchers in the Life Sciences and Environmental Sciences Divisions at ORNL. The instrument will also be employed in ongoing collaborative projects with researchers at Los Alamos and Argonne National Laboratories, as well as projects at other DOE laboratories. This high performance instrument will be an important resource within the Center for Structural and Molecular Biology at ORNL and made available to biological researchers at university, government, and industrial laboratories. Prof. Chris Dealwis (University of Tennessee) has already taken advantage of this instrument to examine proteins he is studying by x-ray crystallography and small angle neutron scattering. (Contact: R. L. Hettich, 574-4968, hettichrl@ornl.gov, or M. V. Buchanan, 574-4521, buchananmv@ornl.gov; Funding Source: DOE-OBER) – March 2000