Creating an MRM Method for Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems with MassHunter 12.0 or Later

Answer

This I

information applies to: Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS System, MassHunter 12.0 or later.

Issue

Set up an MRM acquisition method.

Steps to Follow

1. From the Scan type drop-down list in the Time Segments window, select MRM, dMRM, or tMRM (Figure 1).

   
   
   Figure 1. Scan Type drop-down list
   
   

2. Fill the table with the different information (Figure 2):
   • Compound group: The name of the group for the compound. This information is not mandatory. This helps with managing an MRM database by adding another layer of filtering.
   • Compound Name: The name of the compound; used for the quantification method.
   • Compound formula: The formula of the compound; used for the quantification method.
   • Ion Species: The ion species of the compound. Some examples of Species are (M+H)⁺ and (M+Na)⁺.
   • CAS: Chemical Abstract Service number.
   • z: The charge of the compound.
   • ISTD?: Mark this if the compound is an internal standard.
   • Precursor m/z: The mass over charge of the precursor ion to acquire.
   • MS1 res: The desired resolution of the first quadrupole. This will match the tune file peak widths.
   • Product m/z: The mass over charge of the product ion to acquire.
   • MS2 res: The desired resolution of the second quadrupole. This will match the tune file peak widths.
   • Dwell: The time in milliseconds (ms) spent to acquire this transition before moving to the next one.
   • Fragmentor: The voltage (V) of the fragmentor.
   • CAV: The voltage (V) for the cell accelerator.
   • CE: The voltage (V) for the collision energy. 
   • Polarity: The polarity of the triple quadrupole to acquire this transition. 
     

     
     
     Figure 2. Acquisition Parameters table
     
     

3. You can add lines and delete lines using .
4. Under the table, there is the Estimated cycle time. This is how long it takes in milliseconds (ms) to analyze all the segments (Figure 3).
   

   
   
   Figure 3. Acquisition Parameters table options
   
   

5. Add a desired Start time, Detector Gain Factor for the positive, and negative polarity and if that time segment is to be Stored to the data file (Figure 4). 
   

   
   
   Figure 4. Time Segments table
   
   

6. Saved the method as or overwrite the current loaded method . 

Learn how to effectively operate your Agilent MassHunter Software with Triple Quadrupole LC/MS:  Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS System User Guide user manual on Agilent.com Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS System Introduction Workbook user manual on Agilent.com LC/MS-QQQ-2121e - MRM Acquisition Technique in Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems (Ver. 12.0) LC/MS-QQQ-2122e – Dynamic MRM Acquisition Technique in Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems (Ver. 12.0) e-learning course available from Agilent education