Creating and Editing an Acquisition Method for Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems with MassHunter 12.0 or Later

Answer

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

Issue

Procedure to create an acquisition method to submit injections.

Requirements

The instrument is configured and communicates with the computer and software.

Steps to Follow

1. Launch MassHunter Acquisition software.
2. Select Method in the top ribbon and make sure that Method Editor window is selected (Figure 1).
   

   
   
   Figure 1. Top ribbon of acquisition software
   
   

3.  A new Window will show up at the bottom that looks like Figure 2.
   Note: If there are other Windows selected, the Method Editor window might be a new tab at the bottom left.
   

   
   
   Figure 2. Method Editor window
   
   

4.  Enter the desired parameters for each of the LC modules in their respective tabs.
   

   Tips: The recommendation is to add a stop time to the pump and set the other modules As Pump/No Limit or As Pump/Injector.

5. For the TQ (triple quadrupole), here are some articles that help with the setup of the Time Segments table for the different method types (Figure 3):
   • MRM
   • Scan
   • SIM
   • Product ion
   • Precursor ion
   • Neutral Gain/Loss
     
     

     
     
     Figure 3. Method Editor of the TQ module in Acquisition tab
     

6. Once the parameters are set for the LC modules and the triple quadrupole, click to save the method under a new name.

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 LCMS-QQQ-2121e - MRM Acquisition Technique in Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems (Ver. 12.0) e-learning course available from Agilent education LCMS-QQQ-2122e – Dynamic MRM Acquisition Technique in Agilent Triple Quadrupole LC/MS Systems (Ver. 12.0) e-learning course available from Agilent education