(1065-B) Continued development of high throughput MS within AstraZeneca’s Discovery Sciences

Abstract: Acoustic Mist Ionization Mass Spectrometry (AMI-MS) was the first direct infusion MS technology to achieve a throughput of more than 1 sample per second. However, this technology is not commercially available and therefore has a limited life expectancy within our company. As a result, we continue to develop solutions that can take over from AMI-MS in future.
Here we will share our experiences of collaborating to develop an IR-MALDESI system similar to that published by Fan Pu et al. We have modified the laser optics to improve the laser fluence and illumination of the sample. These modifications focus the laser light as a tight circular spot delivering a high energy beam capable of volatilising the aqueous sample. In our example we have uses a Waters Xevo G2XS mass detector, simply disconnecting the AMI interface and replacing it with a different transfer optic. This change can be completed within 30 minutes making it relatively simple to switch between AMI-MS and IR-MALDESI. Out hyphenation to a Waters mass spectrometer further demonstrates the potential for IR-MADESI to become a low cost, universal source agnostic to the back-end mass detector.
We will show comparative data between AMI-MS and IR-MALDESI and discuss the benefits of IR-MALDESI as a sample loading platform.