Empower Tips: Ask Me Anything About Minimizing Risk in Your Analysis with Empower Software and Mass Detection

Whether you are evaluating ingredients or monitoring for harmful impurities, it is becoming increasingly critical to detect and identify contaminants in your samples with more sensitivity. While many LC separations in QC labs use a UV-based detector, mass spectrometers (MS) are perhaps the most sensitive “detectors” for LC separations. Using photodiode array (PDA) and MS detection in series or parallel, can scan separated components, and search for UV or MS peaks at parameter settings different from the main method configuration.

Collecting UV and MS spectra contemporaneously helps to assure the absence of contaminants with similar chemical properties to your main compounds of interest and give you more identification information about extraneous peaks that appear in a chromatogram.

While MS instruments are available with a wide variety of capabilities, the Waters ACQUITY QDa Mass Detector is designed intentionally for chromatographers, enabling you to routinely obtain the highest quality mass spectral data when you need it. Combined with Empower Software, you can obtain a lot more information about your sample and leverage the numerous capabilities within the Processing Method, Method Set, and Review Window, including:

• MS Peak Tracking for method development
• Mass Analysis Window to simultaneously view MS and UV spectra in different views
• Component Detection Algorithm (CODA) aids in extracting peaks from noisy TIC plots
• 3D Subtraction to remove background noise
• Libraries to search for MS spectra
• Expected Mass Processing to determine if a specified mass exists in your sample
• Peak Ratios to confirm the identity of a compound in a sample
• Formula-Based Derived Channels to combine individual SIRs into one chromatogram

Please join us for a lively discussion as we explore this topic. As always, please bring your questions for this exclusive opportunity to ask our experts anything about Empower Software.

Presenter: Neil Lander (Senior Principal Product Manager, Informatics, Waters Corporation)

Neil has worked for Waters Corporation since 1994 and has held a variety of positions including Technical Support Specialist, Technical Trainer, Manager Customer Education and currently, Principal Marketing Manager focusing on Informatics solutions. He provides internal support for Empower Chromatography Data System and is focused on developing laboratory software solutions that help organizations achieve their scientific and operational objectives. Prior to joining Waters, he was an analytical chemist where he gained experience in both the cosmetics and specialty chemical industries.