This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response.
This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.
NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.
Requirement: Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography System with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
NIST is seeking information from sources with the following capabilities:
All of the following instruments must be new, not used or remanufactured equipment.
Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
Specifications:
- Capable of collision-induced dissociation (CID) using high-purity nitrogen as the collision gas
- Electrospray ion source with thermal gradient focusing technology capable of generating multiply-charged ions with heated nitrogen nebulizing gas capable of stable spray operation with liquid flow rates between 50 µL/min and 2.5 mL/min
- Ion transfer capillary between the electrospray source and the entrance ion optics that has multiple channels for ion transmission to ensure measurement robustness and signal stability
- Software control of all operating gas flow rates and voltages
- Upgradable to perform atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)
- First and third quadrupoles capable of scanning between m/z 5 and m/z 3000
- Capable of using an integrated tuning and calibration solution that is completely software-controlled for remote operation capabilities
- Tuning and calibration automated through software control
- Includes a vacuum manifold that isolates the ion optics between the source and first quadrupole and allows the ion optics to be cleaned without completely venting the vacuum atmosphere of the mass spectrometer
- Software capable of molecule-specific tuning and signal optimization
- Quadrupole scanning speeds of ≥ 15,000 Da/s
- Multiple-reaction monitoring with a dwell time ≤ 0.5 ms
- Capable of performing ≥ 500 multiple-reaction monitoring transitions per second
- First and third quadrupoles capable of scanning with a mass resolution of ≤ 0.4 Da
- Capable of performing repetitive (N ≥ 5) peak area ratio determinations for LC-MS/MS analysis of stable isotope-labeled small molecules or peptide molecules and their natural, unlabeled form with an uncertainty for the peak area ratio of ≤ 1 %
- Rough pumps for the mass spectrometer include sound-dampening covers
Complete ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system with binary pump
Specifications:
- Consists of a binary pump with degassing capabilities, an autosampler, and a temperature-controlled column compartment
- Includes a stackable, modular UHPLC system
- Be able to be controlled from the same software that operates the mass spectrometer
UPLC Binary Pump
Specifications:
- Capable of producing binary solvent gradients
- Able to incorporate selection valves for each of the binary solvent channels that allow software selection of two or more solvents in the binary gradient production
- Minimum pumping flow rate must be ≤ 0.001 mL/min; the maximum pumping flow rate must be ≥ 2.5 mL/min
- Pump flow rare accuracy must be ≤ ± 1 %
- Capable of pumping to a backpressure of ≥ 1300 bar
- Software-controlled purge valve to facilitate remote pump operation
- Capable of pumping with pressure ripples ≤ 1 % of total pressure
- Gradient mixer with a delay volume of ≤ 50 µL
- Integrated seal washing
- Integrated solvent degasser
- Integrated leak detection capabilities
- Automatic pumping compensation of solvent compressibility
- Pump resolution size must be ≤ 500 pL
UPLC Autosampler
Specifications:
- Capable of injecting from 2-mL vials and 96-well plates
- Injection volumes between 0.1 µL and 25 µL
- Heating and cooling of the samples in a temperature range from 5 ˚C to 40 ˚C
- Programmable injection needle washing, both the internal and external parts of the injection needle, with ≥ 2 different wash solutions
- Operations at pressures of a pressure of ≥ 1300 bar
- Integrated leak detection
UPLC Temperature-controlled Column Compartment
Specifications:
- Cooling and heating column from ≥ 20 ˚C below room ambient and ≥ 100 ˚C
- Space for, at least, 2 standard length (150 mm) chromatography columns
- Integrated internal switching valve for multi-column applications
- Leak-free operation at a pressure of ≥ 1300 bar
- Integrated pre-column heat exchanger for solvents
- Integrated leak detection
Instrument Control and Data Analysis Software and Computers
Specifications:
- Instrument control software controls all operation functionality of the mass spectrometer and the liquid chromatography system
- Software to analyze LC-MS/MS data for both qualitative and quantitative analyses
- Software to analyze complex proteomic data that allows for database searching and deconvolution of spectra from multiply-charged ions
- Desktop computer running Windows 11 and the necessary peripheral devices such as networking cards, monitor, keyboard, and mouse
LC Bench
Specifications:
- Moveable instrument cart that can support all components of the UHPLC system and incorporates a power strip and solvent waste management.
MS Bench
Specifications:
- Moveable instrument cart that incorporates a power strip for the electrical connections of the mass spectrometer
- Supports an instrument weight of ≥ 300 lbs
Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the equipment described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the second or third quarter of FY2025 and awarding a contract no later than the fourth quarter of FY2025.
NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 334516, is 1000 employees. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.
After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such equipment are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to jennifer.priebe@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.
The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:
- Name, Address, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.
- Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.
- Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the equipment described in this notice.
- A description of your company’s previous experience providing the equipment described in this notice.
- Indication of whether the equipment described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.
- Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.
- Place of Manufacture of the equipment.
Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.
