The Need

Mass spectrometry (MS) is used across a wide range of applications for detection of various chemical analytes such as drug metabolites, pesticides, food adulterants, and natural product extracts. Recent developments have transformed MS into an all-purpose technique for in-situ and real-time chemical analysis, however quantitative MS is beset with challenges posed by ion suppression effects due to the presence of endogenous or exogenous matrices. This can compromise the integrity of resulting data, requiring longer and more difficult analysis to be performed.

The Technology

Our co-axial contained electrospray ionization (Co-axial ESI) platform overcomes the issue of ion suppression by combining ion generation and reaction into a single step. The sample and reagent are combined in tiny droplets, within which chemical reactions occur simultaneous to the droplet being charged and ejected. This allows for rapid analysis of complex samples. This technology can be operated in multiple modes to tune droplet activity for various analytes (proteins, lipids, fatty acids, and organic compounds). The apparatus is also capable of droplet-plasma fusion that can be activated as part of the electrospray process, which allows both polar and non-polar analytes to be effectively detected.

Benefits/Advantages

The platform accelerates reaction rates for rapid and efficient chemical detection.

• Ground-state and Excited-state Chemistry Capabilities: allows for enhanced chemical detection or can enable isomer differentiation.
• Adaptable to MS Instruments: The apparatus to droplet chemistry itself is the ion source so no instrumental modifications are needed.
• LC compatibility: Can be coupled to any type of LC to allow online modification of compounds eluding from the LC column before entering the mass spectrometer. No reactive reagents to enhance ionization are required during the mobile phase as they are supplied by the co-axial ESI platform after the separation process.
• Capable of droplet-plasma fusion: Allows both polar and non-polar analytes to be effectively detected, and no chromophores are needed to perform excited-state chemistry.

Patents

PCT Patent Application Filed PCT/US2023/060453