Revealing the Detailed Structure of Lipids and Other Biological Compounds, Contributing to the Development of Health Care and the Life Sciences

On December 21, Shimadzu Corporation is releasing the OAD-TOF System. This  quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer is the first in the world to provide detailed structural analyses of lipids and other natural compounds. Oxygen attachment dissociation (OAD), an ion dissociation technology developed by Shimadzu, enables estimation of the position of double bonds between carbon atoms, a conventionally difficult task. OAD was developed at the Koichi Tanaka Mass Spectrometry Research Laboratory, of which our Executive Research Fellow Koichi Tanaka is the General Manager.

In evaluating and searching for compounds, the position where carbon atoms are strongly joined together (the double bonds between carbon atoms) is an important factor in determining the characteristics of a compound. For example, lipids exist in a number of forms, such as omega-3, which is believed to reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis. The function of lipids differs depending on the presence of double bonds between carbon atoms and their positions. Research and development in the fields of pharmaceuticals and food products require the elucidation of structures including the position of bonds between carbon atoms, which has been difficult to determine with conventional methods.

In OAD, atomic oxygen is made to react with the ionized sample, and the double bonds between carbon atoms are selectively broken (dissociated). Information on the position of the double bonds between carbon atoms is then obtained from the ion fragments generated by the dissociation. A quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF MS) measures the size and amount of samples separated at the atomic and molecular levels, thereby obtaining precise information on compounds. In combination, these techniques elucidate the structure of all types of compounds including lipids and other biological compounds. Shimadzu will continue to provide such products, thereby contributing to the subsequent development of research in the health care and life science fields.