Sheathless capillary electrophoresis/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using a pulled bare fused-silica capillary as the electrospray emitter

Abstract

It has always been assumed that electrical contact at the capillary outlet is a necessary requirement when coupling capillary electropboresis (CE) with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In this study, we used a pulled bare-capillary tip as the ESI emitter, but neither was it coated with any electrically conductive materials nor was a high external voltage applied on its outlet. In this paper, we demonstrate that this straightforward approach may be used to generate multiply charged ions of proteins and peptides through electrospray ionization. Our results indicate that peptides and proteins, including bradykinin, cytochrome c, myoglobin, and tryptic digest products that elute from a pulled bare-capillary tip can be detected directly by ESI-MS using the tapered bare-capillary interface. Thus, we have demonstrated that CE and ESI-MS may be combined successfully without the need to modify the outlet of the capillary tip with an electrically contacting material.