Construction and characterization of a small-bore electrospray ionization source.

A simple, economical, and efficient electrospray ionization (ESI) source has been constructed in the configuration of a probe that makes use of a standard 13 mm vacuum lock. The principal components have been placed inside a glass tube making use of the electrical insulating properties of the glass while allowing for visual adjustments to be readily made. The ESI source, a variation of an atmospheric pressure ionization interface, is a modified version of designs published by Chait et al. (Rapid Comm. Mass Spectrom. 1990, 4, 81-87) and Knapp et al. (Annl. Chem. 1991, 63, 1658-1660) wherein a heated metal capillary is used for desolvation. The ESI probe has been tested on three different Extrel quadmpole mass spectrometers, with removable ion volumes, using polypeptides and small proteins. No modifications to the standard electron ionization/chemical ionization lens assembly were required to obtain excellent results other than removal of the ion volume. The spectra acquired were in excellent agreement with those previously published.