Automated strategies for obtaining standardized collisionally induced dissociation spectra on a benchtop ion trap mass spectrometer

An automated method for obtaining standardized collisionally induced dissociation (CID) spectra using two novel ion activation techniques on a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer is described. This strategy simultaneously produces optimal CID spectra “on-the-fly” and maximizes the amount of structurally specific fragment ions obtained in a single experiment, thus eliminating the need for individual tuning of specific mass-to-charge ratios and permitting fragmentation conditions to be more consistently reproduced.