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On‐Demand Ambient Ionization of Picoliter Samples Using Charge Pulses
Author(s) -
Li Anyin,
Hollerbach Adam,
Luo Qingjie,
Cooks R. Graham
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201501895
Subject(s) - ionization , charge (physics) , materials science , chemical physics , ambient ionization , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , physics , chemical ionization , organic chemistry , ion , quantum mechanics
Relay electrospray ionization (rESI) from a capillary containing a sample solution (or from an array of such capillaries) is triggered by charge deposition onto the capillary. Suitable sources of primary ions, besides electrosprays, are plasma ion and piezoelectric discharge plasma sources. With no requirement for physical contact, high‐throughput sample screening is enabled by rapidly addressing individual secondary (sample) capillaries. Sub‐pL sample volumes can be loaded and sprayed. Polar analytes, including neurotransmitters, phosphopeptides, oligonucleotides, illicit drugs, and pharmaceutical compounds are successfully ionized by rESI with concentration sensitivities (0.1 ppb for acetylcholine) which are similar to nanoESI but absolute sensitivities are orders of magnitude better. Nonpolar analytes (steroids, alkynes) are ionized by rESI using an open‐tube secondary capillary and injecting electrolytically generated metal cations from the primary electrospray.