ecTOF

The ecTOF is a novel gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometer (GC-HRMS) that provides both Electron Ionization (EI) and Chemical Ionization (CI) spectral information in a single chromatographic run. It offers compound identification at high resolution, accuracy, speed and confidence.

Key features include:

• High Performance HRP Chemical Ionization Source for unmatched sensitivity and coverage 
• Routine workflow-compatible gold standard 70 eV Electron Ionization (EI) generating fragment ion spectra comparable to NIST library
• CI Reactant Switching Unit including permeation tube oven setup for automated reactant ion switching without hardware changes
• Ion Confluence (iCon) Technology offers a high-speed combination of perfectly aligned dual ionization information for simultaneous generation of structural and molecular information
• TOFWERK Time-of-Flight (TOF) technology for optimized mass analysis of small molecules

The ecTOF is the world’s first GC-HRMS with simultaneous acquisi­tion of EI (Electron Ionization) and CI (Chemical Ionization) accurate spectral information in a single GC run.

While maintaining EI as the gold-standard GC-MS ionization method, the ecTOF operates within the same GC run CI as a second ionization source providing additional molecular ion information.

The novel CI source is based on a helical resonator plasma (HRP) and offers optimized control of the analyte ionization processes, a high sensitivity as well as long maintenance cycles. Four different CI reactants can be used without hardware changes for optimizing the ionization process for a wide range of compound classes.

The high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) offers full mass spectral information at high resolution, accuracy and speed. This makes the ecTOF the ideal instrumental setup for compound identification based on GC-MS.

Simplify & enhance high certainty compound identification

• First & only GC-HRMS using simultaneous EI and CI for efficient generation of NIST compatible fragment and molecular ion information
  
• Novel, low maintenance medium pressure HRP CI source
• Four CI reactants included via permeation tubes (N₂H⁺, H₃O⁺, H(H₂O)n⁺, NH₄⁺) with automated reactant switching
• Seamless data post-processing of perfectly aligned EI and CI data

ecTOF’s dual ionization architecture and ion confluence (iCon) technology enable the simultaneous acquisition of Electron Ionization (EI) and Chemical Ionization (CI) mass spectra in a single chromatographic run.

Dual Ionization Mass Spectrometry delivers deeper, more accurate compound identification with high resolution, high mass accuracy and high-speed acquisition, while supporting confident and efficient quantification for routine analysis.

This way the ecTOF offers a unique combination of established and novel technologies.

The novel HRP (Helical Resonator Plasma) CI source provides fully controlled and reliable determination of accurate molecular masses, enabling precise assignment of elemental compositions for each analyte. This significantly enhances both the coverage and confidence of unknown compound identification.

Three Step – Control of CI Mechanisms

Step 1: Primary H₃⁺ generation
Step 2:  Reactant ionization with automated choice of four reagents
Step 3: Optimized and controlled soft analyte ionization e.g., M+H⁺

Automated CI reactant ion switching

Achieve maximum sensitivity across a wide range of compound classes with four default reactant ions. Instrument downtime is minimized. Fully automated reactant gas switching eliminates hardware changes, while the self-cleaning source requires virtually no maintenance. 

Comprehensive data with a single sample injection
Obtain both NIST-searchable fragment ion spectra (EI) and accurate molecular ion information (CI) from a single chromatographic run, ensuring perfectly aligned structural and molecular data.

Accelerated workflow
Streamline the entire analysis from sample injection to data processing. By eliminating the need to switch ion sources, the ecTOF increases instrument uptime, enhances sample throughput, and reduces post-processing efforts.

Improved linear dynamic range and sensitivity
With its advanced HRP CI source, the ecTOF delivers exceptional signal-to-noise performance - surpassing traditional EI quantification. The result: broader dynamic ranges and more sensitive detection, even in challenging, complex matrices.

Confident unknown identification
Achieve an unsurpassed level of confidence when identifying unknown compounds, reducing the number of potential candidates and minimizing false positives.

Increased confidence
For quantification, the dual-ionization setup of the ecTOF provides greater confidence in reported results by combining two complementary ionization techniques that simultaneously deliver compound-specific concentration information. Accurate-mass analysis and enhanced deconvolution through CI further improve the precision and reliability of quantitative outcomes.

Preservation of routine workflows
Operating at the standard 70 eV GC-EI-MS conditions, existing workflows from conventional GC single-quadrupole systems can be seamlessly transferred and reused on the ecTOF without modification.

Simplified data processing
Say goodbye to tedious alignment procedures: EI and CI data are perfectly synchronized for each compound in a single injection. Post-processing allows flexible analysis - either individually or together.

Improved signal stability
The HRP CI source maintains exceptional signal stability over extended operation owing to its innovative self-cleaning design - even when processing complex or dirty samples.

The ecTOF supports a wide range of applications and can support both quantification and identification of known and unknown compounds in complex samples. Simultaneous generation of EI and CI data is particularly valuable for suspect and untargeted screening, providing a comprehensive understanding of all sample components.

• Metabolomics, Exposome and Pharmaceutical Discovery:
  The ecTOF enables untargeted metabolomics research and comprehensive sample profiling, supporting applications such as steroid profiling in biological matrices (e.g., urine) and broader metabolomics studies that require detailed characterization across diverse compound classes.

• Environmental Monitoring and Research:
  A powerful tool for analyzing water, soil, and air samples, the ecTOF can be used to analyze compounds such as environmental pollutants, including emerging contaminants or to monitor industrial wastewater and emissions.

• Food, Flavor and Fragrance:
  Ideal for food safety or authentication, flavor profiling, and Quality control, the technology can differentiate between flavor profiles of vegan and non-vegan foods, for example, and analyze a perfume sample to identify all its constituent compounds.

• Chemicals and Materials:
  In industrial processes, the ecTOF can be used to monitor processes and products to help optimize their performance. For example, its use in non-targeted screening of battery aging products, for example, helps identify chemical changes over time.

The ecTOF enables highly sensitive targeted, suspect and untargeted screening of compounds for comprehensive exposomics research.

Identify key aroma compounds in complex food matrices by combining accurate-mass EI and CI information within a single analysis. Enhanced CI sensitivity improves detection and quantification of low-abundance compounds such as 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP), while complementary EI spectra provide confident library matching and structural confirmation.

This dual-ionization capability also supports powerful retrospective data analysis, allowing the discovery and prioritization of emerging contaminants and previously overlooked flavor-active compounds.

The ecTOF covers a crucial role for suspect and non-target GC-MS analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds. It greatly improves the identification confidence of unknown compounds, especially in complex samples and when no standards are available. Consequently, the ecTOF is used in a broad range of application areas:

• Environmental monitoring & research: wastewater and soil analysis, PFAS, air monitoring, textile emissions
• Food, flavor & fragrance: authentication, vegan food, flavor profiles, food quality
• Chemicals, fuels, batteries: monitoring of industrial processes and product optimization
• Pharma discovery  and metabolomics studies

Our team is happy to discuss your specific applications and provide more insight on how the ecTOF can benefit your lab: