University of Minnesota, Therapeutics Discovery Development

Q: WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR LAB’S RESEARCH?

We are the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery & Development. One of our main research core’s goals is the synthesis of biologically active small molecules with the additional goal of training the next generation of scientists through the Department of Medicinal Chemistry’s graduate student program. Our projects focus areas include contraception, cancer, infectious disease, and Alzheimer’s.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS WORKFLOW OR CHALLENGES?

A major headache for any synthetic chemist is the identification of the desired product when a mixture is obtained from a reaction. In the past, we would typically run a flash chromatography column, isolate spots of potential interest, concentrate them, and take 1H NMR, sometimes having to go back to column fractions as many as 4 times to analyze new spots if the first wasn’t desired product.

Q: WHY DID YOU INCORPORATE THE expression® CMS INTO YOUR LABORATORY?

Advion’s TLC–CMS system has streamlined our purification and analytical process significantly. What once took several hours to days to complete, we can now accomplish in as a little as 60 seconds. The Data Express software is also very easy to work with and has been quite useful in identifying adducts of our compounds.

Q: WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO PURCHASE THE expression® CMS?

We have been extremely happy with our Advion system and predict that it will quickly become a workhorse in any synthetic organic or medicinal chemistry laboratory.

Teaching Mass Spectrometry For Chemists

Bring mass spectrometry into your classroom for remote or on-site learning with a training course for the expression® Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS).

Advion offers an affordable MS teaching package that includes:

  • A compact, easy-to-use benchtop mass spectrometer for both students and researchers
  • Recorded lectures and video lab content
  • Lecture slides to share or adapt to your own teaching style

Computer Software
PLUS: Easy, student-friendly software. Select the workflow, the type of compounds, and students are on their way with just a few clicks of the mouse.

A research-grade mass spec, the expression® CMS is ideal for teaching because of its small size, ease of use, and one-click software. When class is not in session, the system is ready for research, making this a versatile choice for university labs seeking state of the art equipment paired with streamlined teaching modules.

Food and Ingredients Analysis

Integrated Solutions for Food Authenticity, Characterization and Safety with the expression® Compact Mass Spectrometer, AVANT® (U)HPLC and SOLATION® ICP-MS 

Your integrated laboratory solution for comprehensive testing of food, ingredients and natural products. Advion offers a full suite of analytical instrumentation for characterization, screening and purity determination, including:

  • expression® CMS – The expression® Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS) offers the industry’s widest range of sample introduction systems, providing rapid answers with little or no sample prep in < 30 seconds.
  • SOLATION® ICP-MS – Provides fast, simple, multi-element analysis of toxic metals, and essential elements and minerals in a wide array of samples, including water, soil, plant material, food and raw ingredients 
  • AVANT® HPLC & UHPLC – Advion’s range of modular high performance, liquid chromatography systems can be used standalone with UV and UV/Vis detector options, or with the expression® CMS to provide seamlessly integrated LC/CMS under the full control of Advion’s simple, intuitive software suite. 
  • PLATE EXPRESS® TLC PLATE READER – Plate Express® provides a simple, automated means of obtaining mass spectra directly from TLC plates, combined with Advion’s expression® CMS creating a technique known as TLC/ CMS. See results in < 30 seconds at the push of a button. 

Cannabis Analysis: Potent Solutions for your Budding Lab

Integrated Solutions for Potency and Safety with the expression® Compact Mass Spectrometer and SOLATION® ICP-MS

Outfit your lab with Advion Interchim Scientific’s line of custom cannabis solutions, including the expression® Compact Mass Spectrometer (CMS), the SOLATION® ICP-MS, and a customizable (U)HPLC solution.

Your Complete Lab Solution: Advion Interchim Scientific provides integrated laboratory solutions for comprehensive cannabis testing, including potency testing and cannabinoid levels as well as pesticide identification and quantitation of heavy metals.

Plate Express®: Direct Mass Analysis from TLC Plates

Provides simple, automated MS analysis in seconds, directly from TLC plates

The Plate Express® is a device that provides a simple, automated means of obtaining mass spectra directly from TLC plates, creating a technique known as TLC/MS. Combined with Advion Interchim Scientific’s expression® compact mass spectrometer (CMS) this becomes TLC/CMS. Using this technique, chemists can quickly and confidently identify products even in complex mixtures without additional sample preparation.

  • Identify spots in <1 minute
  • Avoid the risk of overloading the mass spectrometer – TLC spots contain the ideal amount of sample for mass spectrometry
  • Software controlled – spectra obtained within a few mouse clicks
  • Simplify the process of obtaining spectra – ideal for multi-user labs

Purdue University

Q: WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR LAB’S RESEARCH?

A: My research focuses on developing small molecule modulators to pharmacologically validate potential antibiotic, cancer, and chronic pain therapeutic targets.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS WORKFLOW AND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU EXPERIENCED?

A: Purdue’s campus has not had easy access to walk-up mass spec instruments. To get reliable mass spec data for small molecules, one would typically have to submit a request to a central mass spec core. This was not conducive to reaction monitoring or small molecule characterization.

Q: WHY DID YOU INCORPORATE THE EXPRESSION® CMS INTO YOUR LABORATORY?

A: The university research office acknowledged this need and purchased three CMSL instruments with the Plate Express™ and ASAP® capability for walk-up mass spec at three locations on campus. This provided easy access to mass spec data to monitor reactions and characterize molecules. We have even confirmed covalent modification of a protein with a small molecule ligand using this instrument. I was so impressed with the user-friendly interface and instrument set up, that I applied for and received a grant to purchase a 4th instrument to be used in the undergraduate organic teaching lab in the course I teach. We have now incorporated this instrument into the workflow of lab modules for students to collect and analyze their own mass spec data. Something else that stuck out as a positive with Advion is that the data processing software, Data Express™, is free to download for any user. We can have our students analyze data off-site on their own computers. We look forward to incorporating this instrument into more organic lab modules and other courses.

Q: WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO PURCHASE THE EXPRESSION® CMS?

A: I recommend this instrument for both research labs and teaching labs. The ASAP® probe is especially convenient and easy to use for mass spec data.

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY PUBLICATIONS OR PRESENTATIONS USING THE EXPRESSION® CMS?

A: Not yet, but we have one in review for my research, and another that will be written to publish the laboratory module in the Journal of Chemical Education.

ETH, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Zurich, Switzerland

Q: WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR LAB’S RESEARCH?

A: Our laboratory focuses on the development of small molecules with functions that are fulfilled in nature by large macromolecules. We utilize the power of organic synthesis to access functionalities that nature might not have in the repertoire of building blocks. The focus is both on practical applications and an understanding of the properties on the molecular level. This scope includes the development of bioinspired asymmetric catalysts and functionalisable collagen, molecular scaffolds for applications in supramolecular and biological chemistry (e.g., cell-penetrating peptides and tumor targeting) and the controlled formation of metal nanoparticles.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS WORKFLOW OR CHALLENGES?

A: For the synthesis of building blocks and target molecules it is important to efficiently analyze and confirm their chemical structures. We routinely do this by, e.g., NMR spectroscopic analysis of the isolated and purified products. This involves the analysis of small molecules in our asymmetric catalysis projects as well as molecules with molecular weights of up to 2000 Da in our chemical biology and materials science projects. In particular for new reactions, fast and straightforward analysis methods for the newly formed compounds are important but challenging at the same time.

Q: WHY DID YOU INCORPORATE THE EXPRESSION® CMS INTO YOUR LABORATORY?

A: The expression® CMS allows us to efficiently analyze the mass of newly formed compounds in (almost) real time. We particularly value that the instrument allows us to monitor the reaction progress of crude mixtures. Separated on a TLC, products and potential side products can be identified, which results in an optimized and faster down-stream-processing, e.g. column chromatography, and only desired products are isolated on a preparative scale. Furthermore, the ASAP mode is very helpful and extremely fast, when looking for expected product masses, e.g. in the fractions of preparative HPLC separations – just dip it in and measure the MS… it takes 30 seconds per fraction. The possibility to easily switch between the ionization modes ESI and APCI as well to measure MS spectra in positive and negative mode in parallel is very helpful for a fast and reliable analysis.

Q: WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO PURCHASE THE EXPRESSION® CMS?

A:  We recommend the expression® CMS in combination with the TLC-Reader Plate Express™ to any group working in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. The reliable and fast identification of molecules is extremely helpful to monitor reactions, to identify the desired products and potential side products, and to simplify downstream processing.

Eberhard Karls University, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tübingen, Germany

 

Q: WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR LAB’S RESEARCH?

A: We are a Medicinal Chemistry laboratory with a major focus on kinase inhibitors. Within the last decade, we have developed highly potent and selective chemical probes such as Skepinone L, a specific p38 MAP kinase inhibitor suitable for in vivo use. Our strategies involve the reversible targeting of kinases via ATP-competitive type I or less competitive type II inhibitors as well as intermediate type 11/2 inhibitors. More recently, we turned towards covalent kinase targeting by addressing non-catalytic cysteines. This strategy furnished excellent probes for JNK3 and JAK3. For example, we developed FM-381, an extremely isoform-selective JAK3 inhibitor, which is now available as a high-quality probe from the Chemical Probes Portal and the chemical probes program of the Structural Genomics Consortium.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE?

A: Since our work mainly relies on organic synthesis, we have an urgent need for accurate and rapid characterization of novel compounds. While our group owns two NMR spectrometers and several HPLC systems, mass spectrometry was usually done at a shared service unit, which caused additional costs and delays. Although we were also equipped with several LC-MS devices, these were routinely used for biological samples or metabolism studies, thus adapting the workflows for chemical samples was always tedious. Consequently, a more practical solution was required.

Q: WHY DID YOU INCORPORATE THE EXPRESSION CMS INTO YOUR LABORATORY?

A: As mentioned, mass spectrometry was one of the bottlenecks in our synthesis endeavors. The purchase of an LC-MS system exclusively for reaction monitoring and compound analysis would have been an option. However, especially when dealing with crude mixtures, LC-MS devices are typically quite vulnerable and require a lot of maintenance. Moreover, if you do not have a UPLC system, LC-MS runs are time-consuming, limiting the number of samples to a maximum of a few dozens a day, which is a serious problem with respect to the size of our group.

Therefore, Advion’s expression CMS in combination with the Plate Express™ TLC plate reader was the perfect solution for us. It is easy to use, quite robust, offers a high throughput, and is suitable for almost the entire mass range of our compounds. Needless to say, the device is especially suited for reaction monitoring and the rapid assignment of product fractions from column chromatography.

Q: TO WHOM WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE EXPRESSION CMS?

A: The expression CMS/Plate Express™ couple can be recommended to Organic or Medicinal Chemistry groups in general since it seamlessly integrates into organic synthesis workflows. Due to the affordable pricing, it is also a great solution for chemists in academia. Especially laboratories with high turnover of masters students and research interns will appreciate the robustness of the system.

Tyrosinase Inhibitory Effect of (E)-2-(substituted benzylidene)-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalen-1-one Derivatives

Eun Kyeong Lee, Ju Hyun Kim, Kyoung Mi Moon, Sugyeong Ha, Sang-Gyun Noh, Dae Hyun Kim, Bonggi Lee, Do Hyun Kim, Su Jeong Kim, Sultan Ullah, Hyung Ryong Moon, Hae Young Chung

The inhibition of tyrosinase, a key enzyme in mammalian melanin synthesis, plays an important role in preventing skin pigmentation and melanoma. Therefore, tyrosinase inhibitors are very important in the fields of medicine and cosmetics. However, only a few tyrosinase inhibitors are currently available because of their toxic effects on skin or lack of selectivity and stability. Therefore, we synthesized a novel series of (E)-2-(substituted benzylidene)-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalen-1-one derivatives and evaluated their inhibitory effects on mushroom tyrosinase, with the aim of discovering a novel tyrosinase inhibitor. Among 19 derivatives, MHY3655 ($IC_{50}

The MS analysis was carried out using Advion Expression® CMS.

Mass spectrometry as a versatile ancillary technique for the rapid in situ identification of lichen metabolites directly from TLC plates

Pierre Le Pogam, Aline Pillot, Françoise Lohezic-le Devehat, Anne-Cécile Le Lamer, Béatrice Legouin, Alice Gadea, Aurélie Sauvager, Damien Ertz, Joël Boustie

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) still enjoys widespread popularity among lichenologists as one of the fastest and simplest analytical strategies, today remaining the primary method of assessing the secondary product content of lichens. The pitfalls associated with this approach are well known as TLC leads to characterizing compounds by comparison with standards rather than properly identifying them, which might lead to erroneous assignments, accounting for the long-held interest in hyphenating TLC with dedicated identification tools. As such, commercially available TLC/Mass Spectrometry (MS) interfaces can be easily connected to any brand of mass spectrometer without adjustments. The spots of interest are extracted from the TLC plate to retrieve mass spectrometric signals within one minute, thereby ensuring accurate identification of the chromatographed substances. The results of this hyphenated strategy for lichens are presented here by 1) describing the TLC migration and direct MS analysis of single lichen metabolites of various structural classes, 2) highlighting it through the chemical profiling of crude acetone extracts of a set of lichens of known chemical composition, and finally 3) applying it to a lichen of unknown profile, Usnea trachycarpa.

The TLC/MS analysis was carried out using Advion Expression® CMS + Plate Express.