Electrophoretic Separations

Capillary Electrophoresis coupling to Mass Spectrometry (CE-MS), an advanced technique orthogonal to LC-MS for high resolution separation and accurate molecule identification - Martin Greiner

Dec 17 2010

Author: Martin Greiner on behalf of Agilent Technologies Europe

Free to read

This article has been unlocked and is ready to read.

Download

Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) coupled with Mass Spectrometry (MS) has been under investigation for the past couple of decades1. Combining the high separation power of CE with MS promises to yield more sensitive detection and higher information content on the analytes than current methods such as standard UV detection. Since those early days, there have been many improvements and technology advancements on CE and MS instruments, as well as the interfacing devices. Modern Time of Flight (TOF) MS instruments and robust commercial interfaces provide increasingly sensitive routine analysis with accurate mass data.

The basic approach to CE-MS is to use Electrospray Ionization (ESI) techniques. The advantage to this system is that typically ionized or polar compounds separated by the CE under low flow conditions (low nl/min range) can then be efficiently transferred from the liquid phase into gas phase ions required by MS instruments. In addition, ESI does not decompose fragile molecules, like proteins. Routine CE-MS requires the use of volatile
buffers or low concentration salts. This avoids contamination of MS instruments and the suppression of analyte ions by salts competing for entrance to the MS. Separation by CE and ionization of molecules in the ESI source are both based on analyte chemistry and require optimization for best results. It is critical to choose the correct solvents and pH ranges for solubility, to allow for optimal CE mobility and for high ionization efficiency during desolvation. This may call for different chemistries for the separation buffers and for a sheath liquid controlling the ESI processes.
 

Free to read

This article has been unlocked and is ready to read.

Download


Digital Edition

Chromatography Today - Buyers' Guide 2022

October 2023

In This Edition Modern & Practical Applications - Accelerating ADC Development with Mass Spectrometry - Implementing High-Resolution Ion Mobility into Peptide Mapping Workflows Chromatogr...

View all digital editions

Events

analytica 2024

Apr 09 2024 Munich, Germany

Korea Lab 2024

Apr 23 2024 Kintex, South Korea

Korea Chem 2024

Apr 23 2024 Seoul, South Korea

AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo

Apr 28 2024 Montreal, Quebec, Canada

SETAC Europe

May 05 2024 Seville, Spain

View all events