Mass spectrometer, mass spectrometry method and program for mass spectrometry

A mass spectrometer having a function of optimizing a condition of a multiple reaction monitoring measurement performed for each of a plurality of target compounds separated from each other by a chromatograph, the mass spectrometer comprising:

• a detector,
• a plurality of electrodes configured to pass ions to the detector;
• and
• a control unit including
• a) a storage section in which at least one MRM measurement condition is stored for each of the plurality of target compounds, the MRM measurement condition specifying an MRM transition which is a combination of a precursor ion and a product ion as well as an execution time slot in which a measurement using the MRM transition is executed within an entire measurement time;
• b) an applied-voltage candidate value determiner for determining a plurality of applied-voltage candidate values for each of the plurality of MRM transitions, based on an input by an analysis operator, the applied voltage candidate values being values for voltages applied to the plurality of electrodes;
• c) a permissible number determiner for determining a maximum permissible number of overlaps of execution times of unit measurements among a plurality of unit measurements which individually correspond to all combinations of the plurality of MRM transitions and the plurality of applied-voltage candidate values, based on an input by an analysis operator;
• d) a unit measurement divider for dividing the plurality of unit measurements into a smallest possible number of groups under a condition that a number of unit measurements whose execution times overlap each other does not exceed the maximum permissible number;
• and
• e) a preliminary measurement execution file creator for creating a preliminary measurement execution file for each of the plurality of groups.

A mass spectrometry method for optimizing a condition of a multiple reaction monitoring measurement performed for each of a plurality of target compounds separated from each other by a chromatograph, the method comprising steps of:

• a) creating at least one MRM measurement condition for each of the plurality of target compounds, the MRM measurement condition specifying an MRM transition which is a combination of a precursor ion and a product ion as well as an execution time slot in which a measurement using the MRM transition is executed within an entire measurement time;
• b) determining a plurality of applied-voltage candidate values for each of the plurality of MRM transitions, based on an input by an analysis operator, the applied voltage candidate values being values for voltages applied to the plurality of electrodes configured to pass ions to a detector;
• c) determining a number of times of a preliminary measurement to optimize an applied-voltage value in the plurality of MRM transitions, based on an input by an analysis operator, where the number of times is equal to or more than two;
• d) dividing a plurality of unit measurements which individually correspond to all combinations of the plurality of MRM transitions and the plurality of applied-voltage values into a same number of groups as the number of times of the preliminary measurement, where all unit measurements are divided into the groups in such a manner as to minimize a largest value of a number of overlaps of execution times in each group;
• and
• e) creating a preliminary measurement execution file for each of the plurality of groups.

A mass spectrometry method for optimizing a condition of a multiple reaction monitoring measurement performed for each of a plurality of target compounds separated from each other by a chromatograph, the method comprising steps of:

• a) creating at least one MRM measurement condition for each of the plurality of target compounds, the MRM measurement condition specifying an MRM transition which is a combination of a precursor ion and a product ion as well as an execution time slot in which a measurement using the MRM transition is executed within an entire measurement time;
• b) determining a plurality of applied-voltage candidate values for each of the plurality of MRM transitions, based on an input by an analysis operator, the applied voltage candidate values being values for voltages applied to a plurality of electrodes configured to pass ions to a detector;
• c) determining a maximum permissible number of overlaps of execution times of unit measurements among a plurality of unit measurements which individually correspond to all combinations of the plurality of MRM transitions and the plurality of applied-voltage candidate values, based on an input by an analysis operator;
• d) dividing the plurality of unit measurements into a smallest possible number of groups under a condition that a number of unit measurements whose execution times overlap each other does not exceed the maximum permissible number;
• and
• e) creating a preliminary measurement execution file for each of the plurality of groups.