Sheathless capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry using a pulsed electrospray ionization source

Electrophoresis. 2006 Jun;27(11):2083-90. doi: 10.1002/elps.200500811.

Abstract

A sheathless interface has been developed for coupling CE with electrospray IT mass spectrometer. This interface utilized a pulsed ESI source. The use of a pulsed electrospray source allows the use of a sprayer with larger orifice, and thus alleviates the problem of column clogging during conductive coating and CE analysis. A pulsed ESI source operated at 20 Hz and 20% duty cycle was found to produce the optimal signals. For better signals, the maximum ion injection time in the IT mass spectrometer has to be set to a value close to the actual spraying time (10 ms). Using a sprayer with 50 microm od, more stable and enhanced signals were obtained in comparison with continuous CE-ESI-MS under the same flow rate (150 nL/min). The utility of this design is demonstrated with the analysis of synthetic drugs by CE-MS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electrophoresis, Capillary / instrumentation*
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / analysis
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / instrumentation*

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations