Researchers at the University of Warwick and spin-out company Verdel Instruments have successfully demonstrated two-dimensional mass spectrometry (2DMS) on a benchtop instrument, making this powerful technique practical and affordable for everyday laboratory use.
Modern mass spectrometry workflows are built to reduce complexity before measurement: chromatography separates, acquisition methods filter, processing pipelines simplify. These steps are essential, but they come at a cost - information is lost, often without the analyst knowing what's missing.
"The field has long recognised the power of 2DMS, but it has simply not been accessible - only the best-funded centres could afford the specialist hardware,” said Tim Wilson, CEO of Verdel Instruments. "Our technology makes 2DMS possible on benchtop instruments, which are widely available. Any lab can now access this powerful technique."
In their paper, published in Analytical Chemistry , the Verdel/Warwick team provides the first demonstration of 2DMS on a commercially available quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instrument, using an upgrade kit. They call this Q-2DMS and the paper shows how it can be used to obtain high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry data from complex mixtures without the need for chromatographic separation or mass filtering.
The Q-2DMS method works by giving each analyte a unique frequency signature based on its mass-to-charge ratio. When these break apart during analysis, the fragments formed retain this signature, allowing a mathematical decoding process to instantly reveal which fragments came from which analytes.
What would normally be an unusable mess of signals becomes an ordered series of mass spectra similar to those obtained using conventional separation and filtering techniques but now including information that is often lost.
The recently published paper shows that Q-2DMS preserved up to tenfold more usable spectral information when analysing closely related or near-isobaric compounds.
The technique demonstrated in the paper could support work across several research areas, including:
Dr Shum Prakash, Business Development Manager, Warwick Innovations adds: “Years of world-leading research have led to Warwick spin-out Verdel Instruments launching Q-2DMS. It combines high-resolution, easy-to-use readouts with a complete time stamp of each sample, so researchers can revisit the data later without needing the original sample, which may have degraded.”
“What excites us most is what we don't yet know," concludes Peter O’Connor, Professor of Chemistry at University of Warwick, and senior author of the paper. "By making this technique accessible, we're enabling scientists worldwide to ask questions they couldn't ask before, and to find answers they weren't necessarily looking for."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact:
Ann Baylis, Media and Communications Officer
ann.baylis@warwick.ac.uk | +44 (0)7425 722087
About the University of Warwick
Founded in 1965, the University of Warwick is a world-leading institution known for its commitment to era-defining innovation across research and education. A connected ecosystem of staff, students and alumni, the University fosters transformative learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and bold industry partnerships across state-of-the-art facilities in the UK and global satellite hubs. Here, spirited thinkers push boundaries, experiment, and challenge convention to create a better world.
About Verdel Instruments
Verdel Instruments are an award winning, mass spectrometry company revolutionising two-dimensional mass spectrometry. Founded in 2019, Verdel began as a spin-out from the University of Warwick’s FT-ICR mass spectrometry lab, spearheaded by Prof. Peter O’Connor and supported by Warwick Innovations, the Technology Transfer Office of the University of Warwick. Verdel is now based at Milton Park in Oxfordshire.
Analytical Chemistry
Chromatography-Free Analysis of Mixtures Using a Two-Dimensional Mass Spectrometry (2DMS)-Enabled Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (QToF) Analyzer
23-Apr-2026