An Open Access Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer for Sample Characterization

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Summary. On behalf of several colleagues and indeed the entire UBC Chemistry Department, I am spearheading a request for funds to purchase an open access liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (OA-LCMS) for the UBC Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility to replace a faltering instrument that is now 17 years old. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an essential analytical technique to identify unknown compounds and to quantify known compounds and thus is critical to our training mission. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (LCMS) has been established as a powerful analytical technique in compound identification and purity analysis in many fields including chemical synthesis and drug discovery. Modern LCMS instrumentation, along with walk-up software enables open access mass spectrometry (OAMS). OAMS refers to a MS that is available for use by investigators 24/7 without the intervention of MS facility personnel. It is easy-to-use and immediate accessible to chemists for reaction monitoring and it enables trainees to work at-will to analyze their samples in real-time. Walk-up service also gives trainees hand-on experience with state-of-the-art analytic machines and a greater appreciation for product characterization. More importantly, the self-service nature of the equipment is essential for our trainees to appreciate first-hand how to correlate chromatography fractions of synthetic and/or unknown compounds with MS analysis. In training students to characterize complex synthetic products, trainees in our department are driving innovation in terms of natural product synthesis, methodology development, catalysis of fine chemicals/advanced intermediates, and the characterization of new biological entities including polysaccharides and glycopeptides to name a few. This application supports a machine that serves the entire Chemistry Department of UBC. We train over 100 chemists working on organic, organometallic, inorganic, and materials chemistry. These trainees find jobs in industry and teaching and several PIs have received significant funding from industry while others are involved in company creation. This instrument, which will be supported by an in-kind contribution from the Chemistry department is critical to our training mission as it supports critically needed infrastructure to characterize compounds at all levels of the research enterprise.