Agilent 7000, 7010 Concepts Guide

Agilent 7000/7010 Series TripleQuadrupole
GC/MS System

Concepts Guide

Notices

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WARNING

© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2019

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G7003-90052

Edition

First Edition, January 2019

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Software Revision

This guide applies to the Agilent
Mass-Hunter Workstation Software -­Data Acquisition for 7000/7010 Series
Triple Quadrupole program version
B.03.00 or higher until superseded.

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

In This Guide...

The Concepts Guide presents “The Big Picture” behind the operation of the
Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS Systems by helping you
understand how the hardware and software work.

1 “Overview”

Learn how 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads help you do your job.

2 “Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS vs. Single Quadrupole MS”

Learn the concepts you need to understand how 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads
work.

3 “Triple Quad and Sensitivity”

Learn how 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads achieve high sensitivity.

4 “Agilent MassHunter Workstation Software – Instrument Control for

the Triple Quad”

Learn concepts behind the design of the Agilent MassHunter Workstation
Software – Instrument Control for Triple Quadrupole program.

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 3



4 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

Contents

In This Guide... 3

1 Overview

System Description 8

Help for applications 8
Help for acquisition 9
Help for data analysis 11

2 Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS vs. Single Quadrupole MS

Single Quadrupole MS Operation 14

Design for a single quadrupole mass spectrometer 14
How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer works 15

Triple Quadrupole MS Operation 20

Design of the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads 20
Innovative enhancements in the 7000/7010 Series Triple

Quads 21

How a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer works 22

3 Triple Quad and Sensitivity

How the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads Improve

Sensitivity 26
Sensitivity 26

Chemical noise reduction with MRM 28
Sensitivity and reproducibility of the 7000/7010 Series Triple

Quads 30

How Each Component Works to Improve Sensitivity 35

GC capillary flow backflush technology 35
Ion sources 35
Electron impact ion sources 35
Chemical ionization ion source 37
Quad mass filters 38

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 5

Pre- and post-filters 38
Collision cell 39
Detector 43
Pumping system 44

4 Agilent MassHunter Workstation Software – Instrument Control for the

Triple Quad

Description 46

Tuning 47
Acquisition 48

6 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

1 Overview

System Description 8

Help for applications 8
Help for acquisition 9
Help for data analysis 11

This chapter provides an overview of the Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple
Quadrupole GC/MS components and how they help get the job done.

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 7

1Overview

System Description

System Description

An Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole MS is a standalone triple
quadrupole mass spectrometer for use with the Agilent 8890, 9000, and 7890
gas chromatographs. The 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads feature:

• One split flow turbomolecular vacuum pump

• Rotary vane or optional dry scroll foreline pump

• Independently MS-heated electron-ionization ion source

• Two independently MS-heated hyperbolic quadrupole mass filters

• Single hexapole collision cell

• High-energy dynode (HED) electron multiplier detector

• Independently GC-heated GC/MS interface

This configuration has advantages for many applications. The data is interpreted
through the use of the MassHunter Workstation software, which provides
quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data obtained.

The 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads are the only triple quadrupole GC/MS
combinations that incorporates a hexapole collision cell, blanketed with a
combination of nitrogen and helium gas, to improve the ion fragmentation prior
to final filtration, detection, and quantification.

Help for applications

The 7000/7010 Series Triple Quad GC/MS combinations can quantify trace
organic compounds in complex matrices. The following applications use this
type of quantification:

• Food safety studies

• Environmental studies

• Drug discovery

• Toxicology

• Forensics

8 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

1Overview

Help for acquisition

Paired with Agilent 8890, 9000, or 7890 GCs, the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads
deliver sensitive, reproducible analyses of target compounds in complex
matrices. This provides the following:

• Femtogram-level limits of detection and quantification

• Selective quantification of target compounds in high chemical background

samples

• Improved signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) in complex matrices

• Ability to meet stricter regulations regarding sample analytical limits for

certain applications

• Simplified operation with Agilent’s instrument control and data analysis
software

The 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads offer the high sensitivity in GC/MS/MS
analyses that is required by many commercial and regulatory applications.

Help for acquisition

The MassHunter Workstation Instrument Control software allows you to
perform the following tasks from a single window:

Prepare the instrument

• Start and stop the instruments from the software

• Download settings to the GC and the Triple Quad in real time to control the

instrument

• Optimize MS parameters automatically or manually through Agilent tuning
programs and print an Autotune report

• Monitor the actual conditions of the instrument

• View the real-time plot for chromatograms and instrument parameters (both

GC and MS) and print a real-time plot report

• View the centroid line spectrum of a peak or the mass range profile spectrum
of a peak in real time

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 9

1Overview

Help for acquisition

Set up acquisition methods

• Enter and save parameter values for the GC and the Triple Quad to an

acquisition method

• Select and label the total ion chromatograms or extracted ion
chromatograms that you want to appear in the real-time plot

• Set up time segments for each scan type and analysis where parameters
change with the time segment or with the scans within the time segment

• Print an acquisition method report

Acquire data

• Enter sample information and pre- or post-programs (scripts) and run single

samples interactively

• Enter and automatically run both individual samples and samples organized
in a sequence of samples

• Set up pre- and post-scripts to run between samples in a sequence

• Set up and run a sequence to optimize MS acquisition parameters

• Print a sequence report

• View system events, including start and stop times, run events, and errors

• Print an event log report

To learn how to get started with the Agilent Triple Quadrupole GC/MS, see the
7000/7010 Series Triple Quad GC/MS Quick Start Guide.

To learn more about how to use the Agilent Triple Quadrupole GC/MS with real
samples and data, see the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quad GC/MS Familiarization
Guide.

To learn how to do individual tasks with the GC/MS, see the online help.

To learn more about your Agilent GC, see the Agilent user documentation for
your specific GC model.

10 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

1Overview

Help for data analysis

Help for data analysis

Quantitative analysis program

Agilent has designed the quantitative analysis program to help quantify very low
amounts of material. The program has the following unique features:

• Imports information directly from the acquisition method

• Provides a curve-fit assistant to test all fits and statistics on curve quality

• Integrates with an automated, parameter-free integrator that uses a novel

algorithm, optimized for triple quadrupole data

• Presents a batch results window to help you review and operate on an entire
batch of data at once

• Automatically detects outliers

• Provides preconfigured templates for basic reporting and provides the

capability to create custom reports in Microsoft Excel

Please refer to the Agilent MassHunter Workstation Software – Quantitative
Analysis Familiarization Guide or the online help for the quantitative analysis
program.

Qualitative analysis program

For fast method development, this software is used to quickly review the
qualitative aspects of the data, such as the optimum precursor to product ion
transitions.

Agilent designed the qualitative analysis program to present large amounts of
data for review in one central location. With the program you can do these
operations for any type of mass spectrometer data that you open:

• Extract chromatograms

• View and extract peak spectra

• Subtract background

• Integrate the chromatogram

• Find compounds

You can also set up methods to automatically do the tasks in the list, as well as
others, when you open the data files.

Refer to the Agilent MassHunter Workstation Software – Qualitative Analysis
Familiarization Guide or the online Help for the qualitative analysis program.

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 11

1Overview

Help for data analysis

12 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

2 Inner Workings – Triple

Quadrupole MS vs. Single
Quadrupole MS

Single Quadrupole MS Operation 14

Design for a single quadrupole mass spectrometer 14
How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer works 15

Triple Quadrupole MS Operation 20

Design of the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads 20
Innovative enhancements in the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads 21
How a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer works 22

This chapter explains the inner workings of the 7000/7010 Series Triple Quads.
The foundation for understanding the operation of a triple quadrupole mass
spectrometer is the operation of a single quadrupole mass spectrometer.
Therefore, an explanation of the workings of a single quadrupole mass
spectrometer is presented first.

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 13

2 Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS vs. Single Quadrupole MS

Single Quadrupole MS Operation

Single Quadrupole MS Operation

This section first reviews the fundamental aspects of the single quadrupole
mass spectrometer. Understanding the operation of a single quadrupole mass
spectrometer provides insight into the specific features of 7000/7010 Series
Triple Quads.

Design for a single quadrupole mass spectrometer

Mass spectrometry is based on the analysis of ions moving through a vacuum.

The ionization of a sample occurs in the ion source that is shown, schematically,
on the left in Figure 1. In this case, the source used is an electron impact
ionization source, which ionizes the sample with a charged filament.

The ions are analyzed by a mass analyzer (mass filter) that controls the motion
of the ions as they travel to the detector to be converted into actual signals.

Figure 1. Schematic for single quadrupole mass spectrometer

The quadrupole mass analyzers consist of four parallel rods to which specific DC
(direct current) and RF (radio frequency) voltages are applied. These rods filter
out all ions except those of one or more particular mass-to-charge (m/z).

The RF is applied to all four rods, but the negative (–) rods are 180 degrees out of
phase with the positive (+) rods. The rods are labeled + and – in reference to the
DC voltages applied to them.

All ions that comprise the sample are generated at the source. However, when a
specific set of voltages is applied, only ions of the corresponding m/z value may
pass through the quadrupole to reach the detector. As the voltages are altered,
ions with other m/z values are allowed to pass through. A full MS scan is
obtained by increasing the DC and RF voltages applied to the four rods over an
expanded range of values.

14 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide

2 Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS vs. Single Quadrupole MS

External Ionization Source

Quadrupole Mass Filter

Detector

How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer works

How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer
works

A conceptual model can be used to explain the theory of a single quadrupole
mass spectrometer. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Conceptual model of a single quadrupole mass spectrometer

In the model:

• All of the ions contained in a sample are formed in the external ionization
source and collected in a funnel. The balls of different colors and sizes
represent different ions having different m/z values.

Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide 15

• The quadrupole mass analyzer is represented by a moving belt that serves to

filter the ions as they pass through openings of various sizes. The ions pass
from the funnel, through the filter, to the detector.

• The detector is represented by the collecting funnel below the filtering belt.

As the belt (the analyzer) moves, or the voltages on the rods are changed, ions
with different m/z values are filtered through the mass spectrometer.

As the analyzer moves from a small m/z value to increasingly larger values, a full
MS scan is created.

If the belt does not move, the detector continues to monitor the same single m/z
value over the entire scan period. This type of analysis is known as selected ion
monitoring, or SIM. It is the most sensitive operating mode for a single
quadrupole mass spectrometer.

2 Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS vs. Single Quadrupole MS

Detector

Quadrupole Mass Analyzer

How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer works

The scan period is selected (fixed) by the user. The user may set the dwell time
to scan a specific mass range (for example, m/z 50 to 1,000) or to remain on one
selected ion (SIM) or to move to several selected ions during the scan period.
The quadrupole mass filter is not scanned over a range in the SIM mode. The
required RF and DC voltages are set to filter a single mass for a specified time
before moving to the setting for the next SIM.

Single quadrupole: SIM

To obtain the best sensitivity or quantitative measurement, the single quadrupole
is operated in SIM mode (Figure 3). The duty cycle is the measure of the
instrument’s time actually devoted to measuring signals. In SIM mode, the single
quadrupole analyzes the signal of a specific m/z ion almost all of the time. This
results in nearly 100 percent acquisition during the duty cycle.

Figure 3. Single quadrupole: SIM

In this example:

1 All of the ions (+, –, and neutrals) are formed in the ionization source. The

Agilent ion sources consist of a series of lenses and a repeller assembly that
directs the ion beam into the analyzer.

2 Ion optics guide the ions to the quadrupole mass analyzer.

3 In the analyzer, only ions of a particular m/z value, represented in Figure 3 by

blue balls, are allowed to pass through to the detector.

16 Agilent 7000/7010 Series Triple Quadrupole GC/MS System Concepts Guide