Electrospray ionization interface to high pressure mass spectrometry and related methods
摘要
說明書
Conventional mass spectrometry systems typically operate at mass analyzer pressures of about 10?6 Torr, which is several orders of magnitudes smaller than the operating pressures of the embodiments of the invention. To the extent that spraying into vacuum chambers close to atmospheric pressure (e.g., about 600 Torr) has been contemplated, these vacuum chambers were separate from the mass analyzer and employed an inlet capillary into a commercial mass spectrometer which leads to ion loss. See, e.g., Felton et al., Automated High-Throughput Infusion ESI-MS with Direct Coupling to a Microtiter Plate, Anal Chem. 2001, 73, pages 1449-1454; and Zhang et al., High-Throughput Microfabricated CE/ESI-MS: Automated Sampling from a Microwell Plate, Anal Cham. 2001, 73, 2675-2681, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if recited in full herein. In contrast, and advantageously, the new direct spray of ions into a high pressure vacuum chamber 12 holding the mass an analyzer 30 can avoid such ion losses, e.g., there is significantly reduced or no ion loss going through the (single) atmospheric to high pressure interface to the vacuum chamber with the mass analyzer relative to a differential pressure interface.
