Detection of Biosignatures by Capillary Electrophoresis Mass Spectrometry in the Presence of Salts Relevant to Ocean Worlds Missions.

Abstract

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a promising liquid-based technique for in situ chemical analysis on ocean worlds that allows the detection of a wide range of organic molecules relevant to the search for life. CE coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) is particularly valuable as it also enables the discovery of unknown compounds. Here we demonstrate that CE coupled to MS via electrospray ionization (ESI) can readily analyze samples containing up to half the saturation levels of salts relevant to ocean worlds when using 5 M acetic acid as the separation media. A mixture containing amino acids, peptides, nucleobases, and nucleosides was analyzed in the presence of two salts, NaCl and MgSO4, based on their relevance to Europa and Enceladus. We demonstrate here CE-MS limits of detection for these organics ranging from 0.05 to 1 μM (8 to 89 ppb) in the absence of salts. More importantly, we demonstrate here for the first time that organics in the low micromolar range (1-50 μM) are detected by CE-MS in the presence of 3 M NaCl without desalting, preconcentration, or derivatization. This demonstration highlights how CE-MS is uniquely suited for organic analysis on future missions to ocean worlds.