Separation Techniques for Metabolomics

Endogenous metabolites are chemically diverse and vary in their abundance. For comprehensive metabolite coverage to be successful, multiple separation techniques are needed. Thermo Scientific delivers the most comprehensive breadth in separations with gas, liquid and ion chromatography systems, columns and chemistries. When combined with leading Orbitrap MS systems, our solutions enable broader and deeper analyses into the metabolome.

When utilizing reversed phase (RP) and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column chemistries, LC offers the broadest range of metabolite coverage. The Vanquish Flex Binary UHPLC System is the LC system of choice, enabling LC-Orbitrap MS to be the industry-leading solution for comprehensive metabolomics research.

GC-MS produces reproducible molecular fragmentation patterns, making it an integral tool for metabolite identification. Accurate mass electron ionization (EI) fragment patterns are also suitable for matching against widely available libraries, while offering HRAM for more in-depth characterization.

Ion chromatography has emerged as an orthogonal technique for the separation of charged or very polar compounds. IC-MS, with the Dionex ICS-6000 Standard Bore and Microbore HPIC Systems, complements RP LC-MS by separating the early eluting metabolites to increase metabolite coverage.