Electrospray real-time

A new family of ionization techniques allows ions to be created under ambient conditions and then collected and analyzed by MS. They can be divided into two major classes desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) and direct analysis in real time (DART). 

DGE a AC AMS APCI API AP-MALDI APPI ASAP BIRD c CAD CE CF CF-FAB Cl CID cw CZE Da DAPCI DART DC DE DESI DIOS DTIMS EC ECD El ELDI EM ESI ETD eV f FAB FAIMS FD FI FT FTICR two-dimensional gel electrophoresis atto, 10 18 alternating current accelerator mass spectrometry atmospheric pressure chemical ionization atmospheric pressure ionization atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization atmospheric pressure photoionization atmospheric-pressure solids analysis probe blackbody infrared radiative dissociation centi, 10-2 collision-activated dissociation capillary electrophoresis continuous flow continuous flow fast atom bombardment chemical ionization collision-induced dissociation continuous wave capillary zone electrophoresis dalton desorption atmospheric pressure chemical ionization direct analysis in real time direct current delayed extraction desorption electrospray ionization desorption/ionization on silicon drift tube ion mobility spectrometry electrochromatography electron capture dissociation electron ionization electrospray-assisted laser desorption/ionization electron multiplier electrospray ionization electron transfer dissociation electron volt femto, 1CT15 fast atom bombardment field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry field desorption field ionization Fourier transform Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance... 

API offers unique opportunities for the implementation of new sources or to develop new applications. Atmospheric pressure matrix assisted laser desorption (AP-MALDI) [21] can be mounted on instruments such as ion traps which were originally designed only for electrospray and LC-MS. New API desorption techniques such as desorption electrospray (DESI) [22] or direct analysis in real time (DART) [23] have been described and offer unique opportunities for the analysis of surfaces or of solid samples. 

Desorption Electrospray and Direct Analysis in Real Time... 

ESI-MS has been used for the quantification of a number of substrates and products of enzymatic reactions [56,57]. Hsieh et al. report the use of ion spray mass spectrometry (a technical variation of electrospray ionization) coupled to HPLC for the kinetic analysis of enzymatic reactions in real time [58]. The hydrolysis of dinucleotides with bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A and the hydrolysis of lactose with 3-galactosidase were monitored and the resulting data were used for the estimation of and v x of these reactions. Another field of application of electrospray mass spectrometry is the screening of combinatorial libraries for potent inhibitors [31,59]. 

Dalmazio, I., Santos, L.S., Lopes, R.P., Eberlin, M.N. and Augusti, R. (2005) Advanced oxidation of caffeine in water on-line and real-time monitoring by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Environ. Sci. Technol.,... 

DART Direct analysis in real time (DART) is an analogous technique to DESI that does not require the electrospray solvent (Cody et al., 2005 McEwen et al., 2005 Williams et al., 2006). 

Even a technique as complicated as direct liquid-introduction mass spectrometry has been coupled with reactor systems to provide real-time compositional analysis, as described in a series of articles by Dell Orco and colleagues.32-34 In their work, these authors used a dynamic dilution interface to provide samples in real time to un-modified commercial ionization sources (electrospray (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)). Complete speciation was demonstrated due to the unambiguous assignment of molecular weights to reactants, intermediates, and products. 

Seemingly, the next frontier for fast bioanalysis is the removal of the column altogether. Techniques such as direct analysis in real time (DART) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) have shown great potential. These techniques are discussed in more detail in Chapter 13. 

One of the most significant developments in mass spectrometry in the recent years is the introduction of a new class of ionization methods where samples in either solid or liquid state can be directly ionized in their native environment under ambient conditions (rather than inside a mass spectrometer) without any sample preparation. This new class of ionization methods is often referred to as ambient ionization methods [1,2], Because these methods generally ionize analytes on the surface or near the surface of the samples at atmospheric pressure, they have also been called atmospheric pressure surface sampling/ionization methods or direct/open air ionization methods [3], Since the first reports on ambient ionization with desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) [4] and direct analysis in real time (DART) [5], numerous reports have been published on the applications of these new ionization methods as well as the introduction of many related ambient ionization methods such as desorption atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (DAPCI) [6], atmospheric solid analysis probe (ASAP) [7], and electrospray-assisted laser desorption/ionization (ELDI) [8], Recently, two reviews of the various established and emerging ambient ionization methods have been published [2,3],... 

Fernandez, F.M. et al., Characterization of solid counterfeit drug samples by desorption electrospray ionization and direct-analysis-in-real-time coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry, Chem. Med. Chem., 1(7), 702, 2006. 

Two new independently developed techniques called Dart ° (direct analysis in real time) and Desi (desorption electrospray ionisation) are making a huge impact on mass spectrometry. Together they remove the need for sample preparation and vacuum, speed up analysis time and can work in the open air. The sample is held in a gas or liquid stream at room temperature and the impact induces the surface desorption of ions. The ions then continue into the vacuum interface of the MS for analysis. Samples can be hard, soft or even liquid in nature. Ifa et al. have used Desi to image biological samples in two dimensions, recording images of tissue sections and the relative concentrations of molecules therein. Jeol have launched a commercial Dart ion source for non-contact analysis of materials in open air under ambient conditions. 

A new generation of mass spectrometer inlets allow for direct sampling of a substrate under ambient conditions. Theoretically, this eliminates the need for any sample preparation. Examples include direct analysis in real time (DART) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), as well as desorption atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (DAPCI) and atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP). These techniques utilize a source of energy interacting directly with a sample surface at ambient pressure, causing molecules of interest to desorb, ionize, and be sampled by a mass spectrometer. 

Atmospheric pressure ionization (API). The need to analyze polar componnds and the necessity to interface LC with MS led to the development of techniqnes where the ionization occurs at atmospheric pressure outside the vacuum chamber, and the resulting ions are transferred directly into the mass analyzer. Electrospray ionization (ESI) is the most successful of the API methods because of the range of molecular masses to which it can be applied, from small molecules to proteins. Other API methods include atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photo-ionization (APPI), and also the recently developed surface ionization methods such as desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) and direct analysis in real time (DART) (see below and Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3). 

Methods Ambient ionization methods, of which there are now over 20, e.g., desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), desorption atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (DAPC), desorption atmospheric pressme photo-ionization (DAPPI), and direct analysis in real time (DART), are now joined by paper spray, a method where ESI is initiated at the pointed tip of a piece of filter paper. A drop of blood ( 15 pi) is dried on the paper, and then the paper is moistened with 25 pi of a solvent suited to both the extraction of the analytes from the blood and the ESI process (e.g., 90% methanol 10% water with either 100 ppm acetic acid or 200 ppm sodium acetate). When the paper is exposed to high voltage (3-5 kV) while held close ( 5 mm) to the entrance of the mass analyzer, a spray (similar to electrospray) is induced at the tip of the paper as capillary action carries extracted compounds through the paper (Figure 4.5). The spray is maintained for 30-90 s at a flow rate comparable to that used in nano-electrospray. 

Sterling, H.J., Williams, E.R. (2010) Real-time hydrogen/deuterium exchange kinetics via supercharged electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Chem, 82 (21), 9050-9057. 

Ionization of condensed-phase analytes occurs by mixing a sample in a suitable matrix and bombarding the matrix-analyte mixture with an energetic beam made of either laser photons as in MALDI, high-energy fission particles as in Cf plasma desorption, or high-energy fast atoms or ions (FAB or liquid SIMS). When an analyte is present in a solution, such as an effluent from a separation device, it can be ionized via thermospray ionization, atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization, atmospheric-pressure photoionization, or electrospray ionization. Desorption electrospray ionization and direct analysis in real time are new modes of ionization that are accomplished in ambient air. 

Dennhart, N., T. Fukamizo, R. Brzezinski, M.-E. Lacombe-Harvey, and T. Letzel. 2008. Oligosaccharide hydrolysis by chitosanase enzymes monitored by real-time electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. J. Biotechnol. 134 253-260. 

The enzymatic reaction of plant chitinases was investigated by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Hexasaccharide hydrolysis by barley class II chitinase (family GH19) was monitored in real-time by ESI-MS, producing a reaction time course that was completely consistent with that previously obtained by HPLC (Honda and Fukamizo 1998), as shown in Figure 23.7. Kinetic modeling of enzymatic hydrolysis successfully simulated the profile of the time course obtained by ESI-MS (data not shown), indicating that the reaction time course obtained by ESI-MS in real-time has sufficient accuracy (Fukamizo et al. 2008). In the ESI-MS method, the amounts... 

All mass spectrometers require a sample input system, an ionization source, a mass analyzer, and a detector. All of the components with the exception of some sample input systems or ion source volumes are under vacuum (10" -10" torr for that portion where ions are separated by mass, i.e., the analyzer, or 10 -10" torr in some ion sources, where the ions are initially formed), so vacuum pumps of various types are required. Other ion sources, such as the direct analysis in real time (DART) (discussed in Section 9.2.23), electrospray ionization (ESI) (Sections 9.2.2.3 and 13.1.6.1), or chemical ionization (Cl) (Section 9.2.2.2), operate at atmospheric pressure and use extraction lenses set to a polarity opposite that of the ions to draw them into subsequent stages of the MS instrument. Modern mass spectrometers have all of the components under computer control, with a computer-based data acquisition and processing system. A block diagram of a typical mass spectrometer is shown in Figure 9.4. 

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