Q-TOF technology at ARC

ARC has acquired a very powerful analytical technology for use in client projects in the form of a quadrupole-time-of-flight (Q-TOF) LC/MS system. This instrument is extremely capable for the identification of unknown compounds, such as impurities in technical active ingredients.
The MS/MS capability is valuable not only for identification of unknown compounds but also for target analysis of a compound in a complex matrix. This sophisticated instrument has the MS/MS capability that a TOF LC/MS lacks, and has the high resolution mass spectral analysis capability that the traditional triple-quadrupole MS/MS instrument lacks.

With both high resolution LC/MS and MS/MS capabilities, the Q-TOF is a superior choice for tackling impurity identification projects and low-level target compound analyses. In addition to the high resolution mass spectrometry capability, the HPLC

can operate with the newer small particle size (1.8 micron) column technology to also achieve high resolution in the chromatographic separation leading into the mass spectrometer. A diode-array UV detector is present on the instrument to aid in reproducing separations previously done on LC/UV systems and to provide complementary detection and sample information to the MS data.

The Q-TOF is potentially useful for many different kinds of problems where compound identification or analysis is required. One example is five-batch studies for EPA registration. Another example is analysis for cross-contamination in commercial products where contaminating impurities can have deleterious or toxic effects.