Development of packed capillary column electrochromatography/mass spectrometry

The enhanced performance of electro-osmotically driven high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using reversed-phase packed capillaries has been evaluated for coupling to mass spectrometers, as an alternative to both conventional pressure-driven elution, and to micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography for the separation of neutral analytes. An off-line comparison of electro-osmotically driven versus pressure driven chromatography for the separation of an aromatic mixture shows the superiority of the method over conventional HPLC. Coupling of the technique with continuous-flow fast-atom bombardment for the analysis of a steroid mixture is described.