ChemSW Announces NIST08 Upgrade Discounts for NIST05 Users

ChemSW, Inc. is offering a free NIST08 pre-release upgrade to customers who purchase the NIST05 Mass Spectral (MS) Database between now and the release of NIST08 in August 2008. Order now, receive the NIST05 version on CDROM immediately, then receive the NIST08 version on CDROM when it is released. Discounts are available for simultaneous purchase of multiple licenses. In addition, companies can leverage special discounted pricing for Web-based training in the interpretation of mass spectra.

NIST05 and NIST08 are mass spectral databases of the NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral data that contains electron ionization (EI) spectra used to expedite the identification and analysis of unknown compounds. The NIST05/NIST08 MS Database greatly increases laboratory productivity and reduce costs.

Companies that must analyze unknown compounds for their R&D and manufacturing processes must ensure that their final determinations are valid. Sometimes millions of dollars are at stake. To ensure valid determinations, mass spectral libraries or databases – particularly NIST05 and soon NIST08 – are used to compare spectra and compound identification information against the unknowns to achieve accurate results. The improvements in NIST08 and the increased number of EI spectra in the database make it an essential tool for the lab. It makes sense to start using NIST08 as soon as it becomes available.

NIST08 Provides Significant Enhancements

NIST08 contains several major enhancements over NIST05, including:

More EI spectra! 220,435 EI mass spectra of 192,262 different pure chemical compounds – an increase of 15 percent more EI spectra than NIST05. NIST08 now also includes consistent identification for hundreds of salts and a separable collection of low-volatile substances not usually measurable by GC/MS. In addition, thousands of spectra of common derivatives and contaminants have been added.

Improved functionality including greater consistency of naming and structure representation, better resolution of chemical structure ambiguities arising from different forms of the same compound, new linking of closely related compounds with similar spectra (stereoisomers), and hundreds of additional spectra measured on ion trap instruments.

Increased reliability for GC/MS identification due to the use of both GC and MS identification approaches. In addition, new capability for gas phase retention index data and estimates has increased significantly. Now, the database of retention data for non-polar and polar stationary phases contains gas-phase retention indices with the Kovats Indices (KI) for 292,924 data records of 42,888 compounds, effectively tripling the retention index data that was previously released with NIST05. The estimated retention indices are provided for most compounds, with recommended uncertainties, to allow removal of false hits.

Multiple literature KI values are provided for many of the 21,847 compounds in the gas phase retention index data. In addition to KI values, the complete literature citation and the detailed chromatographic conditions (column, temperature, flow rates, etc.) are provide for each KI.

More MS/MS spectra! An additional 5,308 MS/MS spectra of 1,943 different precursor ions, a large portion of which are new spectra for contaminants and metabolites, most of which have been measured on ion trap and triple quadrupole instruments.

The latest versions of Amdis 2.62 and MS Search Program v.2.0e, which now provides keyword searches in addition to searches by identity, similarity, chemical formula and more, making searches faster and much more comprehensive.

The improvements in NIST08 and the increased number of EI spectra in the database make it an essential tool for the lab. Not only is access to new spectra an important reason to upgrade, but the enhancements to MS Search 2.0e make searches faster and more in-depth. For example, you can now perform keyword searches to identify a spectrum that was identified at a certain date and recover that spectrum by searching for that date can be a major asset to the lab. And, when you search on a chemical formula, now the parentheses in the formula are completely resolved so that a complex formula such as CH3(CH2)3C(C(CH3)3)3 has been converted to the much simpler C17H36.

Discounted Mass Spectral Training

Because no software can yet be relied upon to identify compounds with complete accuracy, access to comparison data is just the start when determining accurate compound analyses. Enrolling in the popular web-based course entitled “Interpretation of Mass Spectra” will greatly assist chemists of all levels in understanding how to use NIST08 to full advantage.

Taught by industry expert Professor O. David Sparkman, the course goes into detail about how to perform accurate compound identification using NIST05/NIST08 and other industry tools, teaching how to determine the “quality” of a mass spectrum and how to decide if the spectrum is worthy of an attempted interpretation. In particular, Prof. Sparkman provides insights into how to leverage the NIST05/NIST08 MS Database using the NIST MS Search Program. For example, he shows not only how to look for a reconstructed total ion current (RTIC) chromatographic peak that represents an analyte, but also what to do when a spectrum of the unknown compound is not in the library and how to achieve the best match. ChemSW is offering discounted pricing for course attendees who purchase NIST05 or upgrade to NIST08 upon registration.

If you purchase NIST08 from ChemSW as an upgrade to an existing NIST mass spectral library, you qualify for a 25% discount on the Web-based Interpretation of Mass Spectra Course. For details about the course, Click here

Upgrade and Sign Up Today!

From now, until the release of NIST08 in August 2008, ChemSW is taking orders for NIST08 upgrades. When NIST08 is released, all upgraded ChemSW customers will automatically receive the upgrade and can start using NIST08 immediately.

NOW AVAILABLE: A client-server version of the NIST MS Search Program and NIST Database. Contact us for details at info@chemsw.com