Project Short Description:

Setup of the robotic derivatization device for the direct thermal desorption-gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (DTD-GC-TOF-MS) for metabolomic analysis.

Project Long Description:
An automated two step derivatization with automated liner exchange coupled to direct thermal desorption GC-TOF-MS for complex metabolomic samples will be implemented. The setup consists of one LECO III GC-TOF-MS and one LECO III GCxGC-TOF-MS both equipped with a dual robotic arm Gerstel MPS PrepStation and an ALEX Automated Liner EXchance Unit from Gerstel. Additionally both devices feature a Gerstel KAS Cooled Injection System (Gerstel CIS) for temperature programmed sample injection.

The setup will be used for automated high-throughput analysis of small molecules (<600 Da). Up to 1000 metabolites may be detected in one dimensional mode, moreover several thousand peaks can be detected in comprehensive mode (GCxGC).