Title: triple quadrupole mass spectrometer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - triple quadrupole mass spectrometer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.12604
Status: current

Definition
Tandem mass spectrometer comprising two transmission quadrupole mass spectrometers in series, with a (non-selecting) RF-only quadrupole (or other multipole) between them to act as a collision cell.

Related Terms
- RF-only quadrupole: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12560
- collision cell: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12361
- transmission quadrupole mass spectrometers: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12602

Source
- PAC, 2013, 85, 1515. 'Definitions of terms relating to mass spectrometry (IUPAC Recommendations 2013)' on page 1598 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-06-04-06)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12604/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12604/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12604/xml

Citation: Citation: 'triple quadrupole mass spectrometer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.12604
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-14T17:32:28+00:00