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Is droplet evaporation crucial in the mechanism of electrospray mass spectrometry?
Author(s) -
Siu K. W. M.,
Guevremont R.,
Le Blanc J. C. Y.,
O'Brien R. T.,
Berman S. S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
organic mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 0030-493X
DOI - 10.1002/oms.1210280519
Subject(s) - electrospray , chemistry , evaporation , mass spectrometry , extractive electrospray ionization , analytical chemistry (journal) , desorption , electrospray mass spectrometry , ion , chromatography , sample preparation in mass spectrometry , electrospray ionization , organic chemistry , adsorption , thermodynamics , physics
Evaporation of solvent from charged droplets was found not to be a prerequisite to ion desorption in electrospray mass spectrometry. Evidence of evaporation was absent in an examination of the electrospray mass spectral profiles of cytochrome c and myoglobin in 0.2% acetic and propionic acid solutions; the pHs of these two acid solutions are expected to change in opposite directions with evaporation. The results strongly suggest that ions, as observed in electrospray mass spectrometry, are desorbed from solutions that have undergone minimal evaporation, in other words, at the beginning rather than later parts of the electrospray process. It is speculated that ions are desorbed directly from the solution‐air interface at the needle tip.