title: Hyphenation of Production-Scale Free-Flow Electrophoresis to Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Using a Highly Conductive Background Electrolyte.
abstract: In this technical note, we demonstrate the hyphenation of production-scale free-flow electrophoresis (FFE) and sheathless electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In contrast to previous hyphenation approaches, we used a highly conductive background electrolyte (BGE) required for production-scale FFE. We found that this kind of BGE as well as a production-scale setup leads to significant electric interference between FFE and MS. This interference prevents steady-state FFE operation. We examine this interference in detail and discuss possible solutions to this issue. We demonstrate that the straightforward grounding of the transfer line removes the influence of ESI-MS on FFE, but creates a current leak from the ESI interface, which adversely affects the ESI spray. Furthermore, we show that only the electrical disconnection of the ESI probe from the FFE-MS transfer line suppresses this undesirable current. In order to facilitate the electrical disconnection we used a low conductivity, silica-based ESI probe with withdrawn inner capillary. This approach allowed the interference-free hyphenation of production-scale FFE (using a highly conductive BGE) with ESI-MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University , Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kochmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University , Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Fletcher J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Agostino
authors.affiliation: SCIEX, 71 Four Valley Drive, Vaughan, Ontario L4K 4 V8, Canada.
authors.forename: J C Yves
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University , Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Sergey N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Krylov