NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: Agilent Certified Pre-owned 6545 A-TOF LC/MS System Item #G6545BAR

Notice of Intent: The USDA, ARS, SEA intends to award a sole source procurement to Agilent Technologies, 2850 Centerville Road BU3-2, Wilmington, DE 19808 as they are the sole source for these types of products/services pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(l ) and FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The award will be to purchase the following product/services: Agilent Certified Pre-owned 6545 Q-TOF LC/MS System. Includes MassHunter workstation, monitor, and software. Certified Pre-owned 1290 Infinity II HPLC System, including high speed pump with integrated degasser, diode array detector, multi-column thermostat with valve drive, and multisampler with thermostat. The preowned systems and software are compatible with our existing Agilent systems, such as LC-DAD, Pre-LC. This makes it possible for us to quickly develop and transfer the methods between different systems, or interchange parts with existing systems. - Employees will NOT have to be retrained to use the new equipment being requested, thus, saving both time and money. All employees are knowledgeable with the latest ChemStation software. - We have mass spectroscopy databases built around the spectral data generated using Agilent software that must be incorporated into this new instrument. Agilent is the only option. - At least 10 years of instrument use will be guaranteed from the date of purchase. - Agilent Inc. has been working with employees at the Oxford, MS location and have been providing service for our current instruments in the past. The service engineer and application scientists understand our specific needs when working with natural products. - The system provides the ability to perform a high-performance chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectroscopy which is utilized to identify, characterize, and quantify both targeted and untargeted compounds from natural products. - This piece of equipment is critical to the research we are doing in the USDA, ARS, Natural Products Utilization Research Unit, which supports multiple research projects currently in progress, as well as, multiple Mid-South Area (Athens, GA; New Orleans, LA; Stoneville, MS; etc.) collaborations with numerous groups in need of such expertise. - Ion beam compression and shaping optics of the system provides high sensitivity while maintaining over 45K mass resolution and sub 1 ppm mass accuracy. - Enhanced electronics and software algorithms enable extremely high data acquisition rates up to 50 spectra/second. - Unlike other manufactures, Agilent JetStream thermal gradient focusing allows for more effective sampling. - Targeted MS/MS with the Personal Compound Database and Library (PCDL) software allows for the quick identification, confirmation, and quantification of compounds. - The PCDL provides the ability to establish our own natural products library, which will include active constituents with significant biological activity from medicinal plants. This system is compatible with our current library constructed with the existing systems in place. The Government intends to award a firm fixed price Purchase Order on or about September 10 ,2020, using Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This Notice of lntent is not considered a Request for Quotation (RFQ) nor is it a Request for Proposals (RFP). No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all responses received by 2:00 PM central time, September 9, 2020. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Inquiries will only be accepted via email to the points of contact listed: Place of Performance: USDA ARS 598 McElroy Drive OXFORD, MS 38655 Primary Point of Contact: Shalunda S. Mix Contract Specialist shalunda.mix@usda.gov