Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) instrument

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The requested liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) instrument is urgently needed to sustain efforts to make high impact discoveries and train highly qualified personnel (HQP) at the Department of Chemistry (Université de Montréal, UM) in various fields including catalysis, medicinal chemistry, energy science, nanotechnology and environmental research. An essential analytical tool that was used by >200 students and postdoctoral fellows from the laboratories of 17 different professors, the former LCMS instrument was purchased with CFI funds in 2003, housed in the Regional Mass Spectrometry Centre (RMSC-UM), and served as an open-access workhorse on which our researchers were fully trained in operation and data handling for over a decade. Beyond repair, desperately needing replacement, the now defunct LCMS instrument was also an essential tool employed by RMSC-UM staff to service over a dozen clients from outside the university in other academic and private sector laboratories. A valuable skill set and indispensable research technique in chemistry and biochemistry, LCMS is routinely employed to obtain precise information on compound composition and purity for timely making go/no-go research decisions, to optimize reaction conditions, to ensure product quality, and to assess component stoichiometry. Various region-wide student projects are guided by information from efficient analysis of miniscule amounts of sample as a result of routine injection into an open-access LCMS instrument. Without the LCMS instrument, important research is being delayed and compromised because our alternative open-access analytical machines lack the capacity to routinely provide the same sensitivity and precision during rapid data acquisition to guide the judicious evaluation and execution of investigations employing modern techniques: e.g., combinatorial experimentation, solid-supported chemistry, and solid-phase micro extraction. Urgently needed, an open-access LCMS instrument is essential for the success of collaborative research with academic and industrial colleagues, who await validation of the purity of samples destined for biological studies, and who seek information on sample composition from diverse research in environment, energy and materials science. Replacement of this vital open-access LCMS instrument is thus critical to ensure a steady flow of valuable scientific research and training for the benefit of Canada's healthcare, economy and environment.*****