autoflex maX

autoflex^®maX

Straightforward power, proven technology

Versatility

Application flexibility of MALDI-TOF MS is fully supported for rapid discovery and characterization workflows.

Simplicity

Leverages the straightforwardness of MALDI-TOF for LC-free mass spectrometry, meeting the analytical needs of quality control and target characterization.

Speed

With a laser repetition rate up to 2 kHz, higher throughput workflows are rapidly executed.

autoflex^® maX

More than 25 years of MALDI – proven technological innovations

The autoflex^®maX MALDI systems are built with our proven technological innovations and designed to be a powerful tool for scientists, analytical chemists and researchers around the world.

Featuring the smartbeam-II laser as integral part of MALDI instruments
At the heart of the autoflex^® maX is our proprietary smartbeam-II solid state laser. With up to 2 kHz speed in MS mode and 200 Hz for MS/MS, time sensitive analysis – such as would be needed for biopharmaceutical integrity screening – can be made in minutes. The ionization efficiency of the smartbeam-II laser minimizes sample consumption and maximizes quality data output from each target position, even for complex samples. The ionization is gentle enough that tissue samples may be stained after analysis in MALDI MS Imaging workflows. Amenable to a variety of MALDI matrices, the smartbeam-II laser offers a long lifetime for a wide range of applications.

Driven by intuitive softwares, enabling seamless solutions
A key component of the value and walk-up approachability of the autoflex^® maX is the Compass software suite, including flexControl for data acquisition and flexAnalysis data analysis. Whether user driven or automated, these softwares support the generation of high quality data quickly and easily. Further, they work in combination with application specific software packages including BioPharma Compass^® for biopharmaceuticals, PolyTools for polymers, and SCiLS™ Lab for MALDI Imaging.

Maintenance made easy
An analytical platform with this range of utility can become a workhorse in the lab, but ion source maintenance is made easy with the push button, IR-laser based self-cleaning of the Perpetual Ion Source. In less than 15 minutes, the autoflex^® maX will be ready to resume its workload. Remote service capabilities with Bruker engineers support rapid troubleshooting as well as software and firmware updates on the spot.

autoflex^® maX

State of the art technology meets advanced informatics

From routine QC to discovery and characterization, the autoflex^® maX MALDI-TOF and TOF/TOF systems offer versatility and reliability for the rapid analysis of challenging sample types.

Like all our FLEX series MALDI-TOF and TOF/TOF systems, the autoflex^®maX instruments are engineered to reliably provide high value data in daily operation. The application flexibility of autoflex^® maX is strengthened by its improved dynamic range, providing a more complete picture of diverse molecular species across a broad mass range.

With a laboratory-friendly footprint and the option to upgrade from TOF to TOF/TOF capabilities in the field, the autoflex^® maX offers true value and analytical versatility and continues Bruker’s legacy of providing innovative and reliable solutions for every laboratory.

Analysis of broad spectrum of molecules
All our MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers can analyze ions over a wide m/z range, enabling analysis of a broad spectrum of molecules, from smaller molecules, like lipids and peptides, up to polymers and intact proteins larger than 100 kDa. With our PAN panoramic focusing, peak resolution is maintained, and the new 10-bit digitizer of the autoflex^® maX enhances dynamic range for a more complete view of sample components. In MALDI Imaging applications, this expansion of dynamic range can be invaluable for complex samples such as tissue, but is also beneficial for all applications, including QC workflows, direct TLC-MALDI, and polymer characterization.

Characterization of poly n-butylacrylates on the autoflex^®maX system. MALDI-TOF spectrum of the poly n-butylacrylate synthesized in bulk at 100°C* illustrates the dynamic range of the autoflex^®maX system with signal intensities in the range of three orders of magnitude. Both very low intense signals around 35 kDa and fine spectral detail in the low mass range (~3 kDa) are clearly detected without saturation. *Agirre, J. I. Santos, A. Etxeberria, V. Sauerland, J. R. Leiza, Polym. Chem., 2013, 4 (6), 2062 – 2079

Powerful solutions
The seamless integration of the high-quality data with our software suites SCiLS™ Lab, BioPharma Compass^®, or PolyTools enable easy to use solutions for MALDI Imaging, protein characterization, industrial QC, polymer analysis, impurity evaluation, or characterization of additives.

autoflex^® maX

Straightforward analyses with speed, power, and versatility

With the autoflex^® maX, the application flexibility of MALDI-TOF MS is fully supported for rapid discovery and characterization workflows including

Polymer analysis
Glycan profiling and characterization
Molecular imaging
Lipid analysis
Peptide mass fingerprinting
TLC-MALDI

Polymer evaluation with high efficiency and information depth
MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is a fast and easy method for polymer characterization, providing detailed information and mass accuracies far beyond traditional gel permeation chromatography. In many cases, oligomerically resolved polymer mass spectra may be obtained from the autoflex^® maX, and from this data monomer units and end groups can be rapidly determined via our PolyTools software.

Characteristic values of the polymer, including average molecular weights (M_n and M_w), dispersity Đ, degree of polymerization, and the mass of the combined end groups, may also be automatically calculated. Even similar polymeric components may be easily distinguished by help of Kendrick Mass Defect plots.

In cases where mass calculations from polymers with broad mass distributions (Đ > 1.2) are difficult to perform, the enhanced dynamic range of the autoflex^® maX provides more data of potential value with the detection of lower intensity peaks and a broader polymer distribution.

Rapid biopharmaceutical product characterizations
In biopharmaceutical development and production, fast and educated decision making can reduce time and costs in applications from early development through QC. Rapid LC free methods have been developed using the autoflex^® maX to determine glycan profiles for clone selection, perform rapid ID testing during fill-finish operations, and QC of a variety of incoming goods.

Antibody identification can be achieved rapidly using a dedicated 15-minute denaturation and digestion protocol, with the autoflex^® maX providing differentiating pattern of abundant peptide (peptide mass fingerprints). When compared to a reference pattern library, a dedicated scoring algorithm in our BioPharma Compass^® software provides similarity scores and traffic light color coding for easy determination of the correct mAb sequence match. Clone selection and QC screens can be made quickly from all types of antibodies using PNGase F released glycans. Butterfly plots generated within BioPharma Compass^® allow rapid visual comparison of glycan pools of different mAb batches.