Mass defect triggered information dependent acquisition

Abstract

Systems and methods for analyzing compounds in a sample. In one embodiment, a mass spectrometer includes an ion source for emitting a plurality of ions from a sample together with a detector positioned downstream of said ion source and configured to detect the impact of emitted ions on the detector. The mass spectrometer also includes a controller operatively coupled to the detector and to the ion source and configured to calculate the m/z for each detected ion. The controller comprises a mass defect filter configured to determine if the m/z for each detected ion falls within a pre-determined mass defect range. The mass spectrometer also includes data storage coupled to the controller, wherein the data storage is configured to store detected ion m/z data corresponding to the m/z for a detected ion if the m/z falls within the mass defect range. The mass spectrometer may also include an ion mass filter positioned downstream of the ion source and operatively coupled to the controller. The ion mass filter is configured to selectively filter for ions substantially corresponding to the stored detected ion m/z data. The spectrometer may also include a fragmentor operatively coupled to the ion mass filter, wherein the fragmentor is configured to fragment each selected ion and to emit each fragment towards the detector. The controller is operatively coupled to the fragmentor and configured to calculated the m/z for each fragment detected by the detector. The data storage is preferably further configured to store fragment m/z data corresponding to the m/z for each detected fragment.