The Bruker microTOF-Q II is a high-resolution ESI-Qq-TOF mass spectrometer designed for accurate-mass measurement, unknown identification, structural MS/MS analysis, metabolomics, and proteomics. The offered configuration includes an electrospray ionization (ESI) source and vacuum pump. The system combines a quadrupole mass filter, collision cell, and time-of-flight analyzer for accurate MS and MS/MS measurements across a broad mass range.
The microTOF-Q II provides 1–2 ppm RMS mass accuracy with internal calibration, 17,500 FWHM resolution with typically up to 20,000 FWHM at LC speed, a 50–20,000 m/z mass range, and acquisition rates up to 20 Hz.
Offered Configuration
- Bruker microTOF-Q II
- Apollo II™ Ion Funnel ESI source
- Q-q-TOF mass analyzer
- Quadrupole mass filter
- CID collision cell
- Time-of-flight analyzer
- Vacuum pump
- LC-MS/MS configuration
- System can be fully refurbished prior to delivery
The exact vacuum-pump model and supplied accessories will be specified.
Apollo II™ Ion Funnel ESI Source
The offered system uses the Apollo II™ ion funnel electrospray source.
A radial RF field efficiently collects and focuses ions toward the analyzer entrance. Bruker describes approximately 10× increased ion transmission compared with the preceding design, supporting improved sensitivity in LC-MS and LC-MS/MS workflows.
Q-q-TOF Architecture
The instrument combines:
- a quadrupole mass filter for precursor selection,
- a quadrupole collision cell for CID,
- a TOF analyzer for accurate-mass measurement.
This configuration provides accurate mass information for both molecular and fragment ions, supporting high-confidence structural characterization.
Mass Accuracy
- Internal calibration: 1–2 ppm RMS
- External calibration: 5 ppm RMS
Accurate mass is available for both MS and MS/MS data and can support elemental composition determination, molecular formula confirmation, fragment assignment, and unknown identification.
Resolution
- Specified resolution: 17,500 FWHM
- Typical LC-speed resolution: 20,000 FWHM
The system also demonstrates >20,000 FWHM performance for intact-protein measurements.
Dynamic Range
The microTOF-Q II provides more than five orders of dynamic range, supporting simultaneous detection of high- and low-abundance compounds in complex samples.
SmartFormula™ and True Isotopic Pattern
SmartFormula combines:
- accurate mass,
- chemical constraints,
- True Isotopic Pattern (TIP™) information.
SmartFormula 3D additionally incorporates accurate-mass fragment information from MS/MS, improving molecular formula assignment confidence.
Fragment Analysis
The microTOF-Q II supports conventional CID MS/MS and in-source CID.
This enables:
- precursor isolation,
- CID fragmentation,
- accurate-mass fragment analysis,
- structural elucidation,
- de novo peptide sequencing,
- PTM characterization.
Screening and hrEIC
Full-scan accurate-mass acquisition retains molecular information for retrospective screening.
High-resolution extracted ion chromatograms can use mass windows down to approximately ±0.002 Da, helping reduce chemical background and improve screening specificity.
Software
The system is supported by the Bruker Compass™ environment for LC-MS/MS control, acquisition, data processing, and interpretation.
Available application software historically included:
- SmartFormula™
- SmartFormula 3D™
- TargetAnalysis™
- MetaboliteTools™
- BioTools™
- ProteinScape™
- Compass OpenAccess™
Technical Specifications
- Ion Source in Offered Configuration: Apollo II™ ESI
- Mass Analyzer: Q-q-TOF
- Mass Range: 50–20,000 m/z
- Internal Mass Accuracy: 1–2 ppm RMS
- External Mass Accuracy: 5 ppm RMS
- Resolution: 17,500 FWHM
- Typical Resolution: up to 20,000 FWHM
- Acquisition Rate: 20 Hz
- Sampling Rate: 2 GHz
- Dynamic Range: >5 orders
- Fragmentation: CID; ISCID
- Software: Bruker Compass™
- Dimensions (W × D × H): 640 × 949 × 1320 mm
- Weight: 160 kg
- Vacuum System: Vacuum pump included in offered configuration
LC Compatibility
Supported LC and sample introduction platforms historically included:
- Bruker EASY-nLC
- Agilent
- Dionex
- Waters, including UPLC
- VWR/Hitachi
- Advion TriVersa NanoMate
- CTC autosamplers.
Typical Applications
- Accurate-mass LC-MS/MS
- Unknown identification
- Elemental composition determination
- Pharmaceutical impurity analysis
- Drug metabolite identification
- Metabolomics
- Proteomics
- Peptide sequencing
- PTM analysis
- Pesticide screening
- Food safety
- Environmental screening
- Forensic toxicology
- Doping analysis
- Natural products
- Synthetic and organic chemistry
