Bruker introduced the next-generation solariX 2XR Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer (FTMS) to accelerate ‘extreme resolution’ mass spectrometry with mass resolving powers in the range of 1-10 million, which are not achievable with any other mass spectrometry technologies. The company introduced solariX 2XR system at the International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC 2016).

The new solariX 2XR system, with an affordable 7 Tesla magnet, further advances the revolutionary method of isotope fine structure (IFS) mass spectrometry by reducing the time necessary to acquire IFS mass spectra, and by making IFS analysis easy and routine for broad applicability in chemistry research.

Its novel OMEGA detection electronics effectively doubles the detected ion cyclotron frequencies, thereby cutting in half the required measurement time to obtain IFS in time-sensitive small molecule workflows such as LC/MS and MALDI MS imaging.  This patented enhancement to the acclaimed ParaCell FTMS detector cell increases the resolving power even further to a record-breaking 1.2 million in one second at m/z 200, with excellent quantitative isotope ratio fidelity.  The unique solariX 2XR system also can routinely acquire mass spectra with more than 10 million resolving power, providing clear separation of molecular details that cannot be resolved with any other technologies, for the analysis of extremely complex mixtures in petroleomics, dissolved organic matter (DOM), MS imaging, metabolomics or top-down proteomics.

The previous generation solariX XR FTMS introduced analytical chemists to powerful isotopic fine structure (IFS) analysis with unprecedented molecular sum formula specificity, where the exact elemental composition of a small molecule can be unambiguously obtained directly from extreme resolution mass spectra.  In the last few years, this level of IFS specificity has quickly become a routine tool in small molecule analysis, whether in metabolomics, pharmaceutical research, forensics or small molecule MS imaging.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center of Sustainable Resource Science in Yokohama, Japan, have been successfully utilizing the power of IFS for several years to unravel the complexities of plant metabolomics. They have recently employed the IFS method to discover novel drug targets from asparagus.  Dr. Ryo Nakabayshi of the RIKEN metabolomics function research group commented: “The extreme resolving power only offered by FT-ICR-MS technology enabled us to create a powerful IFS workflow to efficiently discover and identify new bioactive, sulfur-containing metabolites in plants.  We expect that the further improvements in the new solariX 2XR system will significantly increase the ease and speed associated with implementing IFS into a wide variety of analytical roles.”

For more than 50 years, Bruker has enabled scientists to make breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life.  Bruker’s high-performance scientific research instruments and high-value analytical solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular and microscopic levels.