This invention relates to an ion trap and a method for dissociating ions in an ion trap, and relates especially to a quadrupole ion trap and to tandem mass analysis using a quadrupole ion trap.
Tandem mass analysis can be achieved by employing an ion trap analyser, which may be in the form of a magnetic cyclotron (FTICR MS) or a high frequency quadrupole ion trap. In a tandem mass spectrometer, a precursor ion with a certain mass to charge ratio is selected and is isolated inside the trapping volume. A dissociation procedure then follows using one of a number of known activation methods, including collision induced dissociation (CID), surface induced dissociation (SID), infrared multi-photon dissociation (IRMPD) and electron capture dissociation (ECD). The product ions resulting from this procedure are measured using a mass scan to obtain an MS2 spectrum. If a further precursor ion is selected from the product ions and the dissociation procedure repeated the subsequent mass scan will give an MS3 spectrum. Such a time domain procedure can be repeated to generate MSn spectra. The capability of a tandem mass spectrometer is very important, as MSn spectra allow for the elimination of chemical noise while, at the same time, increasing confidence in the identification of the chemical structure of the original ions by detecting and analysing specific product ions. This kind of tandem mass analysis is also efficient in elucidating and sequencing complicated molecular structures, such as protein and DNA.
Of the above dissociation methods, ECD was developed most recently and offers more extensive sequence information. For peptide and protein sequencing, ECD results in the backbone bond cleavage to form a series of c-type and z-type ions. This is in contrast to the commonly used CID which is only capable of cleaving the weak peptide bonds to form b-type and y-type ions resulting in loss of labile post-translational modification.
However, ECD has only been implemented using the FTICR mass spectrometer. While the quadrupole ion trap has been used for tandem mass analysis employing CID, and IRMPD to fragment protein or peptide ions, the quadrupole ion trap has not hitherto successfully incorporated ECD. It is likely that this is for the following reasons:
1. For ECD, the kinetic energy of electrons must be very low, typically around 0.2 eV. It is very difficult to transfer such low energy electrons from an electron source to the ion trapping region. In FTICR, where a strong magnetic field is employed a low energy thermo-emitted electron is always focused and is guided by the magnetic field lines until it reaches the trapping region. In the case of quadrupole ion trap, where a strong time-varying electric field is used to confine ions, the electric field will either accelerate or retard injected electrons. If a sinusoidal RF voltage is used to generate the trapping electric field, there is hardly any practical time window within which electrons can be injected and reach the centre of the ion trap with the required kinetic energy. Injected electrons are either accelerated to higher energies or simply ejected by the electric field. Fragmentation, due to these high-energy electron impacts masks the useful information obtained from ECD and it is very difficult to gate the injection of electrons to coincide with the narrow time window when the RF trapping voltage has the correct phase.
2. The mechanism of electron capture dissociation requires both the creation and preservation of the so-called Rydberg state of precursor ions according to current theoretical models of ECD. However, high electric fields within the quadrupole ion trap tend to destroy Rydberg states causing removal of electrons from the Rydberg orbit to a continuum. Even in the central region of the ion trap (the ion cloud may occupy a space over 2 mm in diameter) the field intensity may still cause a loss of the intermediate excitation state, with a consequent reduction in the efficiency of ECD.
3. It is common to use buffer gas in the ion trap to cause collisional cooling. The buffer gas pressure is normally at a pressure around 10−3 mbar and hundreds of collisions per millisecond will occur between the trapped ions and the buffer gas. Such collisions with the buffer gas in an ion trap can also destroy Rydberg states, which in turn reduces the efficiency of ECD.
Nevertheless, implementation of ECD in a quadrupole ion trap offers an attractive approach due to the fact that the quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer is much cheaper to build compared with the FTICR instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,662 B2, Jochen Franzen discloses procedures for the implementation of ECD in a 3 D RF quadrupole ion trap. The method includes injecting electrons through an aperture in the ion trap electrode carrying the RF voltage, whereby the electron source is kept at the highest positive potential achieved at the centre of the ion trap during the RF cycle. With this method, electrons can reach the centre of the trap, interacting with the stored ions for a period of a few nanoseconds, while satisfying the low energy requirement of ECD. Although this method overcomes the first problem listed above, it results in a very narrow time window within which the electron beam can irradiate the trapped ions. It had been anticipated that the injected electrons would be captured by the potential well of the entire ion cloud and thereby survive and accumulate over successive RF cycles. However, such expectations have neither theoretical nor experimental support.
ECD is used to dissociate multiply-charged positive ions and is one example of electron induced dissociation. In another example of electron induced dissociation, electrons are injected into the ion trap to dissociate negative ions by so-called electron detachment dissociation.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method for dissociating ions in an ion trap, comprising the steps of switching a trapping voltage between discrete voltage levels to create a digital trapping field for trapping precursor ions and product ions in a trapping region of the ion trap, and injecting electrons into said ion trap while the trapping voltage is at a selected said voltage level whereby injected electrons reach the trapping region with a kinetic energy suitable for electron induced dissociation to take place.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an ion trap including switch means for switching a trapping voltage between discrete voltage levels to create a digital trapping field for trapping precursor ions and product ions in a trapping region of the ion trap, a source of electrons and control means for causing source electrons to be injected into said ion trap while the trapping voltage is at a selected one of said voltage levels whereby the injected electrons reach the trapping region with a kinetic energy suitable for electron induced dissociation to take place.
The invention makes possible an extension of the time window within which low energy electrons can reach the ion cloud in the ion trap for effective ion electron interaction. The invention also makes it possible to reduce the electric field strength while maintaining ions in the trapping region during the dissociation process.
The pressure of buffer gas in the trapping region may be reduced to preserve the required intermediate state of ions during the ECD process.
In order to extend the time window for ECD, the conventional sinusoidal RF trapping waveform must be modified. GB 1346393 discloses a quadrupole mass spectrometer that is driven by a periodic rectangular or trapezoidal waveform. WO 0129875 further discloses a digital ion trap driving method, where the trapping field is driven by a voltage which switches between high and low voltage levels. This trapping method offers an opportunity for injecting electrons into the trapping region and allowing them to interact with the trapped ions.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ion trap includes means for generating a magnetic field for guiding injected electrons to the trapping region.
Embodiments of the invention are now described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) illustrate the application of magnetic field to assist electron injection.
It is easier to inject electrons through end cap electrode 8 than through the ring electrode 7. This is because in the latter case, electrons are not focused in all transverse directions i.e. only in the axial direction of the ion trap, but not in the direction perpendicular to the trap axis.
Application of a digital trapping voltage, as described, enables the time window within which ECD can take place to be extended, and so gating of the electron beam becomes relatively straightforward. Therefore there is no longer any requirement to inject electrons through the electrode to which the trapping voltage is applied, in order to prevent high energy electrons from reaching the trapping centre and hitting the ion cloud, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,662. However, injection through ring electrode 7 may also have advantages as now explained.
Many prior art implementations demonstrate that ECD product ion intensity does not increase in proportion to the exposure time to electrons. Over-exposure causes decreased intensity of product signals with the parent ion peak being much higher than the peaks of the product ions. This is due to neutralization of product ions by subsequent capture of electrons. However, the product ions can be removed from the ion electron interaction region if an appropriate excitation waveform is applied. If electrons are injected through the ring electrode of a quadrupole ion trap, as mentioned above, the electrons are compressed in the z-direction and reach the ion cloud in the centre of the x-y plane. Ions can be selectively removed from this plane by applying a dipole tickling voltage across the end cap electrodes. When the mass-to-charge ratio of the precursor ions has been selected, a notch-filtered broad band excitation waveform can be readily created with the notch frequency assigned to the secular frequency of the precursor ion. When the excitation waveform is applied to the end cap electrodes, all ions except the precursor ions will be removed from the centre plane where electron irradiation occurs. By such means, the product ions produced by the ECD process will be removed from the centre of the ion trap and so protected from a cascading decay, and useful product ions may be accumulated.
An alternative way to avoid cascading decay, even when electrons are injected through a hole in an end electrode can be appreciated by examining
Each successive period selected for electron irradiation should preferably be at least as long as the period when there is no irradiation. This creates a relatively wide time window during which ECD can take place and also gives rise to a relatively low absolute trapping voltage value, since the average DC potential over the whole period is normally zero in order to provide the widest mass trapping range. When a lower trapping voltage is used during the ECD process, the better the chance to preserve the Rydberg state. Therefore, ECD efficiency can be improved when the rectangular waveform voltage is lower and a longer excursion of the waveform is chosen for ion electron interaction.
In order to further reduce the field strength for ECD to take place and yet, at the same time, maintain a sufficient trapping force, a 3 level digital waveform can be used. Such a waveform is shown in
Unless there is a sufficient retarding field for reducing the energy of electrons in the trapping region, the electrons must be injected into the trapping region with very low kinetic energies in order that ECD can take place. Focusing a low energy electron beam at the centre of the ion trap is very difficult, with the result that many electrons may not reach the centre of the ion trap where interaction with the trapped ions takes place.
With a view to alleviating this problem, a magnetic field is applied to the ion trapping region. Calculation shows that a magnetic field of less than 150 Gauss will be sufficient to confine an electron beam generated by a thermo cathode to a beam within 1 mm diameter. This easily enables the electron beam to overlap and interact with the ion cloud in the ion trap. As shown in
A magnetic field may also be used to focus an electron beam injected through a hole in the ring electrode. By this means, divergence in the x-direction at the centre of the x-y plane can be reduced and efficiency of ECD increased.
A linear quadrupole ion trap may also be driven by a switching circuit and this has been disclosed in WO0129875. As in the case of a 3-D ion trap, a digitally driven linear ion trap also opens up the opportunity for ECD to take place. One of the ways to drive the linear ion trap is shown in
a is a schematic diagram showing a linear ion trap in combination with an electron source for ECD. In this configuration, the linear ion trap has a front segment 93, a main segment 91 and a back segment 92. Ions can be introduced via a gate 94 and the front segment 93 where they enter the main segment 91 and finally form a linear ion cloud 90.
A pulsed gas injection is needed to cool down the ion motion before ECD takes place. Buffer gas, having a constant high pressure, may reduce the efficiency of ECD so it is not recommended. The timing of a pulsed valve which introduces buffer gas into the trapping region must be synchronised with the ECD timings (waveform changing, electron gating and coil charging) to allow sufficient pumping out time before ECD starts.
In the case of a linear ion trap, substantial damping of the kinetic energy of ions may take place in one linear ion trap having a relatively high gas pressure, while ECD may take place in another, down stream linear ion trap where the gas pressure is lower. An orifice between the two ion traps may be used to maintain the pressure differential.
Although we describe electron injection during application of one selected voltage level of the digital trapping waveform, it is not necessary that ECD takes place only during that part of the waveform excursion. With the help of the magnetic field the injected low kinetic energy electrons may be trapped during the consecutive waveform excursion and may continue to react with the precursor ions. For a 3-D ion trap, such an opportunity exists when the voltage level 42 in
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, instead of direct electron capture dissociation (ECD), dissociation using low kinetic energy electrons may involve a two stage process in which electrons are first captured by molecules of a gas in an ion trapping region of the ion trap and electrons are then transferred to the precursor ions to cause the dissociation.
The methods disclosed here are only examples. Various configurations can be designed to carry our ECD with a 3-D or a linear ion trap driven by a digital trapping voltage. For example, the electron source may be arranged off-axis, or may be designed to have a ring or hollow shape, enabling a laser beam to impinge on the ion cloud, as may be needed for other ionisation or dissociation purposes. The ion trap incorporating ECD according to the invention may be a stand alone mass spectrometer or may form part of a tandem mass spectrometer, such as in an ion trap—time of flight hybrid system.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0404106.7 | Feb 2004 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/GB05/00676 | 2/23/2005 | WO | 4/20/2007 |