Electrosonic spray ionization--an ideal interface for high-flow liquid chromatography applications.

Electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) has been studied as an interface between high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS), using sample flow rates up to 3.0 ml min⁻¹. This ionization interface was compared with pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization (ESI) using mass spectrometry for detection.

Miniature flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow ion source for facile interfacing of CE with MS.

Here, we present a miniaturized version of the flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow (miniFAPA) ion source and use it for sheathless coupling of CE with MS. The simple design of the CE-miniFAPA-MS interface makes it easy to separate the electric potentials used for CE and for ionization. A pneumatically assisted nebulization of the CE effluent transfers the analytes from the liquid phase into the gas phase before they are ionized by interacting with reactive species produced by the FAPA.

Fast polymer fingerprinting using flowing afterglow atmospheric pressure glow discharge mass spectrometry.

Flowing afterglow atmospheric pressure glow discharge mass spectrometry (FA-APGD-MS) was used to interrogate different polymer species such as biopolymers, synthetic homo- and co-polymers. The main advantages of FA-APGD-MS for polymer samples include speed (<30 s per sample) and analysis at atmospheric pressures. Moreover, there are essentially no restrictions as to the kind of polymer sample that can be analyzed because FA-APGD-MS can deal with liquid and solid (soluble or insoluble) bulk polymers and granulates, irrespective of their conductivity, without requiring any sample preparation prior to analysis.

Degradation of volatile organic compounds in a non-thermal plasma air purifier.

The degradation of volatile organic compounds in a commercially available non-thermal plasma based air purifying system was investigated. Several studies exist that interrogate the degradation of VOCs in closed air systems using a non-thermal plasma combined with a heterogeneous catalyst. For the first time, however, our study was performed under realistic conditions (normal indoor air, 297.

Probing the hydrophobic effect of noncovalent complexes by mass spectrometry.

The study of noncovalent interactions by mass spectrometry has become an active field of research in recent years. The role of the different noncovalent intermolecular forces is not yet fully understood since they tend to be modulated upon transfer into the gas phase. The hydrophobic effect, which plays a major role in protein folding, adhesion of lipid bilayers, etc.

Label-free determination of protein-ligand binding constants using mass spectrometry and validation using surface plasmon resonance and isothermal titration calorimetry.

We performed a systematic comparison of three label-free methods for quantitative assessment of binding strengths of proteins interacting with small molecule ligands. The performance of (1) nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nESI-MS), (2) surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and (3) isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was compared for the determination of dissociation constants (K(D)). The model system studied for this purpose was the human carbonic anhydrase I (hCAI) with eight known and well characterized sulfonamide inhibitors (Krishnamurthy et al.

Affinity classification of kinase inhibitors by mass spectrometric methods and validation using standard IC(50) measurements.

Protein kinases have emerged as a major drug target in the last years. Since more than 500 kinases are encoded in the human genome, cross-reactivity of a majority of kinase inhibitors causes problems. Tools are required for a rapid classification of inhibitors according to their affinity for a certain target to refine the search for new, more specific lead compounds.

Atmospheric pressure glow discharge desorption mass spectrometry for rapid screening of pesticides in food.

Flowing afterglow atmospheric pressure glow discharge tandem mass spectrometry (APGD-MS/MS) is used for the analysis of trace amounts of pesticides in fruit juices and on fruit peel. The APGD source was rebuilt after Andrade et al. (Andrade et al.

Ion internal energy distributions validate the charge residue model for small molecule ion formation by spray methods.

This paper reports a detailed study of the internal energy distribution of ions formed by four electrospray ionization (ESI)-related ionization methods, with particular emphasis on electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI). Substituted benzylpyridinium ions were used as thermometer ions to probe the internal energy distribution. The influence of different instrumental parameters was studied.

Investigation of deprotonation reactions on globular and denatured proteins at atmospheric pressure by ESSI-MS.

Deprotonation reactions of multiply charged protein ions have been studied by introducing volatile reference bases at atmospheric pressure between an electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) source and the inlet of a mass spectrometer. Apparent gas-phase basicities (GB(app)) of different charge states of protein ions were determined by a bracketing approach. The results obtained depend on the conformation of the protein ions in the gas phase, which is linked to the type of buffer used (denaturing or nondenaturing).

Which electrospray-based ionization method best reflects protein-ligand interactions found in solution? a comparison of ESI, nanoESI, and ESSI for the determination of dissociation constants with mass spectrometry.

We present a comparison of three different electrospray-based ionization techniques for the investigation of noncovalent complexes with mass spectrometry. The features and characteristics of standard electrospray ionization (ESI), chip-based nanoESI, and electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) mounted onto a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer were compared in their performance to determine the dissociation constant (KD) of the model system hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) binding to N,N',N''-triacetylchitotriose (NAG3). The best KD value compared with solution data were found for ESSI, 19.

Binding constant determination of high-affinity protein-ligand complexes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and ligand competition.

We describe an approach for the determination of binding constants for protein-ligand complexes with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, based on the observation of unbound ligands competing for binding to a protein target. For the first time, dissociation constants lower than picomolar could be determined with good accuracy by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The presented methodology relies only on the determination of signal intensity ratios for free ligands in the low mass region.

Manipulation of charge states of biopolymer ions by atmospheric pressure ion/molecule reactions implemented in an extractive electrospray ionization source.

A home-made extractive electrospray ionization source is coupled to an linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer to investigate ion/molecule reactions of biopolymers at ambient pressure. Multiply charged biopolymers such as peptides and proteins generated in an electrospray are easily reduced to a low charge state by the atmospheric pressure ion/molecule reactions occurring between the multiply charged ions and a strong basic reagent sprayed in neutral form into the electrospray plume. The charge state of the biopolymer ions can be manipulated by controlling the amount of the basic reagent.

Rapid and precise measurements of gas-phase basicity of peptides and proteins at atmospheric pressure by electrosonic spray ionization-mass spectrometry.

Deprotonation reactions of peptide and protein ions have been studied by introducing volatile reference bases at atmospheric pressure between an electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) source and the inlet of a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer. This new setup offers the unique possibility to measure the apparent gas-phase basicity GBapp of multiply charged ions by a bracketing approach. A very good agreement has been obtained with reference values obtained by Fourier transform-ion cyclotronic resonance (FT-ICR), validating our approach.