Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is an analytical technique that couples high resolution chromatographic separation with sensitive and specific mass spectrometric detection. This includes high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-MS, capillary electrophoresis (CE)-MS and more recently capillary electrochromatography (CEC)-MS. The technique is still fast developing, particularly in the mass spectrometry area, with vastly improved sensitivity and resolution. It is probably the most powerful technique currently available for pharmaceutical analysis.This review is intended as a discussion on the current developments of LC-MS in pharmaceutical analysis rather than a review of literature alone. Various LC-MS techniques will be described briefly and the advantages and disadvantages of each will be discussed.
DEVELOPMENTS IN LC-MS
Brief History of LC-MSThe last twenty years has seen a dramatic increase in the capabilities of MS. At the beginning of this period the invention of fast atom bombardment (FAB), by Barber et al. in 1981, 1) enabled easier analysis of involatile and thermally unstable molecules, especially those of biological interest. It may be argued that this technique acted as a catalyst for the development of other ionization techniques, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI), applicable to such molecules.The combination of liquid chromatographic techniques with MS has been an important development. Early interfaces were concerned with coping with the potential of 1 l/min vapour in the MS ionisation source vacuum that would be generated by eluent from typical analytical columns flowing at 1 ml/min. This was achieved by evaporating solvent on a heated moving belt, 2,3) or the use of very low flows, such as direct liquid introduction 4,5) and continuousflow FAB (CF-FAB).6) Thermospray 7) and particle beam 8) interfaces were improved methods during the 1980s.Atmospheric Pressure Ionization (ESI and APCI) Over the last decade, ESI and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), have become the dominant techniques superseding thermospray etc. and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future being inherently the most suitable for analytes in solution presented to the MS. ESI was originally proposed by Dole,9) who suggested using charged droplets as a source of ions for MS and Fenn 10) pioneered its development as an ionization source for MS, leading to the first commercially available instrument in 1989.In essence, the electrospray process involves producing a fine spray of ionized droplets from the outlet of a capillary carrying a liquid stream, which may be eluent from HPLC, CE, CEC or direct infusion of sample solution. This is achieved by applying a high voltage (typically 3-5 kV) to the outlet of the capillary at the spray tip, which creates a high electric potential and causes the production of a fine mist of droplets. This occurs at atmospheric pressure, hence the term atmospheric pressure ionization (API), is used. Thi...