Walk-Up Instruments

The UT Mass Spectrometry Facility offers two Walk-Up LC/MS instruments, one Walk-Up GC/MS instrument and one Open Access MALDI instrument that are available 24/7 for trained users.

See the Training page for more information about how to become a trained user.

See the Pricing page for more information on sample charges.

Walk-Up LC/MS Instruments

Agilent Technologies 6125B Single Quadrupole LC/MS

Robert A. Welch Hall

WEL 4.218

The Welch Walk-Up LC/MS is a single quadrupole mass spectrometer that is currently coupled with an electrospray (ESI) source. This instrument uses an autosampler and is interfaced with an Agilent 1200 series liquid chromatography system that has a diode-array (UV-Vis) detector.

Parameters: m/z range: 50-1500; multiply charged ions are possible with ESI.

Column: Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18 narrow bore column; 2.1 mm internal diameter; 50 mm length; 5 micron particle size; P.N. 959746-902.

This instrument often produces [M+H]⁺ and [M+Na]⁺ ions in positive mode and [M-H]^- ions in negative mode. Other adducts such as [M+K]⁺, [M+NH₄]⁺, [M+Cl]^-, and [M+HCOO]^- are often observed.

Agilent has a video that explains how this instrument works.

Agilent Technologies 6120 Single Quadrupole LC/MS

Norman Hackerman Building

NHB 5.342

The NHB Walk-Up LC/MS is a single quadrupole mass spectrometer that is currently coupled with an electrospray (ESI) source. This instrument uses an autosampler and is interfaced with an Agilent 1200 series liquid chromatography system that has a diode-array (UV-Vis) detector.

Parameters: m/z range: 50-2000; multiply charged ions are possible with ESI.

Column: Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18 narrow bore column; 2.1 mm internal diameter; 50 mm length; 5 micron particle size; P.N. 959746-902.

Agilent has a video that explains how this instrument works.

Please follow these documents when running LC/MS samples:

Guidelines for running Walk-Up LC/MS Samples

How to analyze Walk-Up LC/MS samples using ChemStation

Walk-Up GC/MS Instrument

Agilent Technologies 5977E Single Quadrupole GC/MS

Robert A. Welch Hall

WEL 4.218

This Walk-Up GC/MS is a single quadrupole mass spectrometer interfaced with an Agilent Technologies 7820A gas chromatograph. This instrument uses electron impact (EI) ionization and has an attached autosampler tray.

Parameters: practical m/z range: 15-600.

Column: Agilent J&W DB-1MS UI (Durabond Dimethylsiloxane) narrow bore column; 0.25 mm internal diameter; 60 meter length; 0.25 micron film coating.

This instrument, using EI ionization, will almost always produce [M]⁺ ions and a variety of fragments, depending on your target. These fragments act as a "fingerprint" that allows for the identification of many compounds by matching their spectra against a library of known compounds.

Agilent has a product note that explains how this instrument works.

Please follow these documents when running GC/MS samples:

Guidelines for running Walk-Up GC/MS Samples

How to run samples on the Agilent 5977 Walk-Up GC/MS (download to see images)

How to analyze Walk-Up GC/MS samples using MassHunter (download to see images)

Open Access MALDI Instrument

Bruker Autoflex MaX MALDI-TOF/TOF

This instrument is housed in the Biological Mass Spec / Proteomics Facility.

Molecular Biology Building

MBB 1.420

MALDI stands for Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization. This MALDI-TOF/TOF can be used for high and low resolution mass spectrometry of small molecules, peptides, proteins, metabolites, and polymers. It is also capable of producing MS/MS fragmentation spectra for structural characterization or peptide sequencing. Polymer analysis is possible using Polymerix software. Flex-imaging and SCiLS software allow for fast MS analysis of aluminum-backed TLC plates and MALDI imaging, including tissue samples. It uses a Smartbeam II UV (355 nm) laser for ionization.

Parameters: unlimited mass range; normally used for molecules above 300 amu; usually only observe singly charged molecules, but +/-2 and +/-3 are possible.

This instrument often produces [M+H]⁺ ions in positive mode and [M-H]^- ions in negative mode. However, other ions may also be observed- such as Na+, K+, Li+, Ag+... - if they are highly abundant in the sample or are added to improve ionization. This can be very useful for polymer ionization.