ITN

Laboratory of Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR/MS) is a technique that is specially suited to study the chemistry of ion-molecule systems in the gas phase. As a result of the applied magnetic and electrical fields, it is possible to trap ions for long periods of time compared with conventional MS, and complex sequences of operations can be performed: ionisation, selection, acceleration, ejection, collision, reaction and detection. To different event sequences correspond different types of experiments in which the structure of the ions can be probed, reagent/product sequences can be determined and kinetic and thermochemical studies can be made. The FT-ICR/MS technique is also a very powerful analytical tool, being capable of very high mass resolution and exact mass measurements, and as it can be coupled with a large variety of ionisation methods, it can analyse numerous types of materials and compounds.

The FT-ICR/MS instrument at ITN, a Finnigan FT/MS 2001-DT with a 3 Tesla superconducting magnet and interfaced with a Nd:YAG laser for laser desorption/ionisation, is unique in the country and was installed in October 1991 as a result of the “Ciência” Programme, being shared by ITN, IST and FCUL. Supported by the “Praxis XXI” Programme, a new station for instrument control and data treatment and a quadrupolar axialization module were installed in the beginning of 1999. The FT-ICR mass spectrometer is run by the Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Group, that is mainly using it in studies of the gas-phase ion chemistry of lanthanides and actinides, and also in the characterization of lanthanide and actinide compounds. Due to its analytical capabilities, it is also used for the characterization of organic and organometallic compounds, namely through the determination of exact masses, as requested by research groups in national and international universities or institutes.