History of Mass Spectrometry in Australia and New Zealand
ANZSMS is compiling a history of mass spectrometry in Australia and New Zealand and is seeking contributions from its members and other interested individuals. This will comprise a timeline of significant events and discoveries, together with other recollections and perspectives.
To contribute a timeline event, tribute or recollection please complete and submit the form below. Any comments or corrections to the existing timeline and tributes are welcome as well.
ANZSMS Timeline
Timeline of significant events
1922 | Then student Ian Wark (later Head of the Division of Industrial Chemistry, CSIRO) writes to Francis Aston in Cambridge seeking advice on building a mass spectrograph to measure ionisation potentials. Aston promptly replies (‘I think a 12″ coil should be ample for your purpose. 20,000 volts should not strain it seriously even with one pole earthed … Wishing you every success, Sincerely F.W. Aston.’) |
1946 | Construction of a 60 degree Nier-type mass spectrometer commences in the Physics Department, University of Melbourne, becoming operational in 1947. This and a subsequent all-metal mass spectrometer completed in 1948 (still in operation in 1971) were used as isotope separators for the production of milligram quantities of lithium, oxygen, neon, magnesium and zinc. |
1948 | Arrival of first commercial mass spectrometer in Australia – a CEC21102 instrument at CSIRO, Melbourne. |
1950s | Ian Lauder (U. Queensland) and Peter Jeffrey (UWA) construct mass spectrometers for isotope tracer and geological dating experiments. |
1953 | Jim Morrison constructs world’s first mass spectral digitizer consisting of an analog-to-digital converter. |
1957 | Mark Ingram-inspired magnetic mass spectrometer built by Jim Morrison and colleagues in Melbourne. |
1959 | Arrival of commercial Metropolitan Vickers MS-2 instrument at UNSW for use by Jim Green and Jack Garnett. |
1960 | Jim Shannon CSIRO coal research section receives an Atlas CH4 mass spectrometer. |
1960s | Jim Shannon promotes use of “fish-hook arrows” for homolytic bond cleavages of ions. |
1962 | Second Atlas CH4 mass spectrometer installed at Defence Standards Laboratory in Melbourne. |
1962 | Jim Morrison and Don Swingler construct early quadrupole mass spectrometer at CSIRO, Melbourne. |
1966 | John Bowie initiates studies of organic anions by negative ion mass spectrometry, initially using a Hitachi RMU 7D mass spectrometer. |
1968 | Jim Shannon appointed Australian editor of Organic Mass Spectrometry journal. |
1968 | Thermal ionisation mass spectrometer installed at Waite Institute, now Curtin University of Technology, WA. |
Late 1960s | Keith Murray acquires Atlas CH4 at CSIRO Food Research section in North Ryde Sydney. Instrument subsequently adapted for GC-MS experiments. |
1969 | Jim Morrison and John Smith construct the first fast scanning laminated magnet for a magnetic-sector GCMS. (Haertel, G.; Morrison, J.D.; Smith, J.F. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 5 (1970) 215-222). |
1970 | A community of Australian scientists who were working and were interested in mass spectrometry established a formal society known as the Australian Society for Mass Spectrometry. The society was initially chaired by Barry Batts. |
1970 | Bert Halpern constructs quadrupole mass spectrometer for early biomedical mass spectrometry experiments. |
1970s | First commercial ICRs arrive in Australia – U. Adelaide, ANU, CSIRO in Melbourne. |
1971 | First meeting of the Australian Society for Mass Spectrometry at Macquarie University (August 23-27). Name changed to Australian & New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry. |
1971 | Don McGilvery and Jim Morrison develop SIMION program for electrostatic potential and charged particle trajectory calculations. |
1974 | Jim Morrison and Don McGilvery construct a triple quadrupole for studying the photodissociation of ions. (McGilvery, D.C.; Morrison, J.D. J. Chem. Phys. 67 (1977) 368-369). |
1974 | John Traeger builds La Trobe University photoionization mass spectrometer. (Traeger, J.C.; McLoughlin, R.G. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 27 (1978) 319-333). |
1976 | ETP, manufacturer and developer of electron multipliers, founded in Sydney. |
1975 | Peter Derrick constructs large-scale (1 metre magnetic radius, 8 tonne magnet) reverse geometry sector mass spectrometer at La Trobe University. (Cullis, P.G.; Neumann, G.M.; Rogers, D.E.; Derrick, P.J. Adv. Mass Spectrom. 8B (1980) 1729-1738) |
1978 | First use of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer for analytical tandem mass spectrometry in Melbourne. (Yost, R.A.; Enke, C.G.; McGilvery, D.C.; Smith, D.L.; Morrison, J.D. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 30 (1979) 127-136). |
1979 | GCMS analysis of volatile constituents of Australian honeys. (Graddon, A.D.; Morrison, J.D.; Smith, J.F. J. Agric. Food Chem. 27 (1979) 832-837). |
1980 | Application of computerized GCMS to oil exploration in Australia. (Philp, R.P.; Gilbert, T.D. APEA Journal20 (1980) 221-228). |
1982 | ETP develops replaceable dynode multipliers. |
1983 | GCMS analysis of constitutents associated with off-flavors in crustaceans from Australian coastal waters. (Whitfield, F.B.; Freeman, D.J. Water Sci. Tech. 15 (1983) 85-95). |
1987 | Composition of wax made by the Australian stingless bee Trigona australis. (Milborrow, B.V.; Kennedy, J.M.; Dollin, A. Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 40 (1987) 15-25). |
1989 | GCMS analysis of volatile oils in eucalyptus leaves. (Barton, A.F.M.; Tjandra, J.; Nicholas, P.G. J. Agric. Food Chem. 37 (1989) 1253-1257). |
1989 | Jim Dawson and Michael Guilhaus propose an orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer as a new way to couple TOF with continuous ion sources. (Dawson, J.H.J.; Guilhaus, M. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 3 (1989) 155-159). |
1990 | First commercial electrospray mass spectrometer in Australia (Sciex API-III) installed at Bond University. |
1991 | Early tandem TOF/TOF mass spectrometer built at UNSW. (Jardine, D.R.; Alderdice, D.S.; Derrick, P.J. Org. Mass Spectrom. 26 (1991) 915-916). |
1991 | ETP develops air-stable “active film” multiplier technology. |
1992 | Guilhaus and Coles complete construction of first orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer at UNSW. (Coles, J.; Guilhaus, M. Trends Anal. Chem. 12 (1993) 203-213). |
1992 | Waldron, Dowsett, and Derrick patent hybrid double-focusing magnetic-sector time-of-flight mass spectrometer). |
1995 | Construction of a pentaquadrupole mass spectrometer capable of performing MS/MS/MS experiments at Monash University. (Thomas, P.D.; Morrison, R,J.S. Proc. ANZSMS15 ThP-07). |
1996 | Guilhaus and Mlynski complete construction of first MALDI orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer at UNSW. (Mlynski, V.; Guilhaus, M. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 10 (1996) 1524-1530). |
1997 | Michael Guilhaus receives the Curt Brunnée Award at the 14th International Mass Spectrometry Conference. (Adv. Mass Spectrom. 14 (1997) xxv-xxviii). |
1998 | Don McGilvery shares ASMS Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry for development and application of SIMION, an algorithm to simulate for electrostatic fields and ion trajectories. (J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 9 (1998) 657). |
1998 | First record of host defence peptides in tadpoles using mass spectrometry. (Wabnitz, P.A.; Walters, H.; Tyler, M.J.; Wallace, J.C.; Bowie, J.H. J. Peptide Res. 52 (1998) 477-481). |
1999 | Aquatic sex pheromone detected in a male tree frog by mass spectrometry. (Wabnitz, P.A.; Bowie, J.H.; Tyler, M.J.; Wallace, J.C. Nature 401 (1999) 444-445). |
2000 | Special honour issue of the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry for Jim Morrison (Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 194(2/3) (2000)). |
2000 | Guilhaus group demonstrates resolution and sensitivity advantages of parallel wire grids and rectangular repeat cell meshes in orthogonal TOF mass analysers for MALDI and commercial ESI instruments. (Selby, D.; Mlynski, V.; Guilhaus, M. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 206 (2001) 201-210. Lewin, M.J.; Guilhaus, M.; Wildgoose, J.; Hoyes, J.; Bateman, R. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 16 (2001) 609-615). |
2000 | Measurement of proton affinities on a pentaquadrupole mass spectrometer by the kinetic method. (Thomas, P.D.; Morrison, R.J.S. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 194 (2000) 133-143. |
2001 | AMS radiocarbon dating of early human occupation 50,000 years ago in Southwestern Australia. (Turney, C.S.M.; Bird, M.I.; Fifield, L.K.; Roberts, R.G.; Smith, M.; Dortch, C.E.; Grun, R.; Lawson, E.; Ayliffe, L.K.; Miller, G.H.; Dortch, J.; Cresswell, R.G. Quatern. Res. 55 (2001) 3-13). |
2001 | Implementation of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) within the Australian Customs Service for narcotic detection. (Webster, J. Int. J. Ion Mob. Spectrom. 4 (2001) 65-66). |
2001 | Selby, Mlynski and Guilhaus complete construction of compact MALDI reflecting orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer at UNSW. (Selby, D.S.; Mlynski, V.; Guilhaus, M. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 210/211 (2001) 89-100). |
2003 | Special honour issue of the Australian Journal of Chemistry for John Bowie (Aust. J. Chem.56(5) (2003)). |
2006 | John H. Bowie receives a Thomson Gold Medal from the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation recognising “his considerable contributions to fundamental organic mass spectrometry, particularly those involving the study of negative ions”. |
Tributes and Recollections
Peter Jeffery University of Western Australia |
Stable Isotope Studies in W.A. Jeffery, P.M. The Australian Physicist (1976) 28-30. |
Bert Halpern University of Wollongong |
Berthold Halpern – 1923-1980 Danks, D.; Duffield, A.; Sargeson, A. Historical Records of Australian Science 5 (1983) 73-82. |
Jim Morrison La Trobe University |
Jim Morrison – Mass Spectrometrist for All Seasons McLafferty, F.W. Org. Mass Spectrom. 26 (1991) 181-182. Personal Reminiscences of Forty Years of Mass Spectrometry in Australia Morrison, J.D. Org. Mass Spectrom. 26 (1991) 183-194. Jim Morrison Festschrift Traeger, J.C. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 194 (2000) vi-vii. |
Jim Shannon CSIRO |
Editorial Derrick, P.J.; Lacey, M.J.; Macdonald, C.G. Org. Mass Spectrom. 27 (1992) 979-984. Jim Shannon at Coal Research Sternhell, S. Org. Mass Spectrom. 27 (1992) 985-986. Early Shannon Mass Spectrometry McLafferty, F.W. Org. Mass Spectrom. 27 (1992) 987. J. S. Shannon – an Appreciation Maccoll, A. Org. Mass Spectrom. 27 (1992) 989-990. |
John de Laeter Curtin University |
The Oldest Rocks: The Western Australian Connection De Laeter, J.R.; Trendall, A.F. J. Roy. Soc. West. Aust. 85 (2002) 153-160. |
John Bowie University of Adelaide |
John Hamilton Bowie: An Appreciation O’Hair, R.A.J. Aust. J. Chem. 56 (2003) 343-348. |
Richard O’Hair University of Melbourne |
The Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry Conference – a Tradition of Over Thirty Years. O’Hair, R.A.J. Eur. J. Mass Spectrom. 9 (2003) 525-529. |
Kevin Downard University of Sydney John de Laeter Curtin University |
A History of Mass Spectrometry in Australia Downard, K.M.; De Laeter, J.R. J. Mass Spectrom. 40 (2005) 1123-1139. |
Yoji Hayasaka Gayle Baldock Alan Pollnitz Australian Wine Research Institute |
Contributions of Mass Spectrometry in the AWRI to Wine Science Hayasaka, Y.; Baldock, G.A.; Pollnitz, A.P. Aust. J. Grape Wine Research 11 (2005) 188-204. Reproduced with permission from the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology. |
Kevin Downard University of Sydney |
Cavendish’s Crocodile and Dark Horse: The Lives of Rutherford and Aston in Parallel Downard, K.M. Mass Spectrom. Rev. 26 (2007) 713-723. |
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