A history of mass spectrometry in IOCB

·              A history of mass spectrometry at IOCB started in the early sixties of the last century when the first mass spectrometer was purchased. Two mass spectrometers MX-1303 were imported from the Soviet Union due to Prof. František Šorm, a former director of IOCB. Both instruments were initially located in the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Praha - Vinohrady. One instrument was operated by Dr. Vladimír Hanuš, the second one by

·              Dr. Ladislav Dolejš from IOCB. In 1967 one MX-1303 has been moved to IOCB in Praha-Dejvice. Under Dr. Dolejš supervision mass spectra of many compounds of natural as well as synthetic origin were measured. The MX-1303 had a heated-reservoir inlet designed for the analysis of petroleum products; the upper mass limit was ~600 Da with the resolution of 450. The mass spectra were recorded using a strip-chart recorder. The scanning was slow and analyses were sometimes difficult to reproduce, however, mass spectrometry has proven competent for structure elucidation of organic substances. Numerous quality and so far cited publications focused on mass spectrometry of naturally occurring compounds, particularly alkaloids, were published at that time.

·              A new mass spectrometer MS902 (Associated Electric Industry) was purchased in 1969. At that time it was probably the best mass spectrometer on the market. This high-resolution double focusing instrument had a maximum resolution of 70 000 and was capable to measure ion masses with accuracy below to 3 ppm. The instrument equipped for electron ionization possessed an inlet for gas chromatograph, though only with packed columns at that time. The GC/MS instrumentation enabled expansion of pheromone chemistry and identification of volatile compounds from plants and insect.

·              The mass spectra were plotted on UV-sensitive paper at three different sensitivities. To make nice-looking spectra for publications, the peak intensities were manually measured using a ruler and processed by one of the first computers in IOCB. MS902 was located in the basement of the IOCB main building, room 3.