Capillary Electrophoresis Mass Spectrometry: Theory and Instrumentation

Abstract

AbstractSince capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) was first introduced in 1987, it has continued to prove itself a complementary and/or alternative process to other separation systems coupled to MS. The impressive utility and rapid growth of CE/MS is based on three areas of development, which are covered in this article. The first is the efficient separations that are provided by the CE modes of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), capillary electrochromatography (CEC), and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). Molecular micelles used in MEKC/MS and packed columns with tapered outlets for CEC/MS are two novel approaches that are contributing to rapid development. The second is the soft ionization sources, such as electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), which provide efficient ways to ionize molecules in the gas phase. The third is the use of the commercially available CE instruments, which makes it possible to hyphenate all of the following modern mass analyzers. Examples of these analyzers include quadrupole mass filters, time of flight (TOF), ion traps, and the newest Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass analyzers. The applications and developments of various modes of CE/MS show analysis of a variety of achiral and chiral compounds. In addition, the recent use of multivariate analysis with MEKC/MS and CEC/MS has shown the ruggedness of these hyphenation modes.