Recent applications of capillary electrophoresis‐electrospray ionisation‐mass spectrometry in drug analysis

Abstract

A critical review of applications for the period 2000-2004, taken from the Web of Knowledge database, of the technique capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (CE-ESI-MS) in drug analysis is presented. The review is concerned with molecules of mass less than 500 Da, chosen according to selected structural classes in which they give ESI signals primarily as [M+H](+) ions although other ions, such as [M-H](-), [M+Na](+), and [M+NH(4)](+), are also reported. These structural classes are drugs with amine-containing side chains, drugs with N-containing saturated ring structures, 1,4-benzodiazepines, other heterocyclic hypnotics, carbohydrates, sulphonylureas, anthracyclines, sulphonamides, penicillins, cephalosporins, tetracyclines, nitrocatechols, steroids, flavonoids/polyphenols, cannabinols, and miscellaneous molecules. Details are given on the fragmentations, where available, that these ionic species exhibit in-source and in ion-trap, triple quadrupole, and time of flight-mass spectrometers. The review gives a critical evaluation of these recent CE-ESI-MS analytical methods in drug analysis. Analytical information on, for example, sample concentration techniques, CE separation conditions, recoveries from biological media and limits of detection (LODs) are provided. Potential applications of CE-MS to particular drugs or drug classes are also briefly discussed in the text.

Overview on advances in capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry of carbohydrates: A tabulated review

“…The high separation efficiency of CE and the possibility to directly inject complex matrices such as biological samples (like urine or serum) allow the use of CE-MS for clinical and forensic applications [28,85]. In this section we have included the most cited applications regarding CE-MS of carbohydrates in drug analysis, i.e., the analysis of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and of glucuronidated drugs.…”

“…Some reviews are dedicated to the use of CE-MS as analytical tool for drug analysis (see for instance [28]), but the CE-MS literature dedicated to drugs containing a glycosidic moiety is poor. Only one work on the analysis of an aminoglycoside (namely Amikacin) was found by us [88].…”

“…Some examples of saccharidic compounds studied through CE combined with MS have been mentioned in recent reviews. In these works, examples of carbohydrates analysis are cited, together with many other applications, with the aim at showing the potential and recent advances of the CE-MS in a general perspective [25,26] or in specific fields [27][28][29][30].…”

Recent advances in the applications of CE to forensic sciences (2001–2004)

“…A critical evaluation of the use of CE-ESI-MS for the detection and determination of small molecules of forensic significance can be found in a comprehensive review by Smyth and Brooks [44] covering also HPLC-ESI-MS. More recently, Smyth [45] published a specific review on CE-ESI-MS in drug analysis with 102 references, covering the period 2000-2004. Both these reviews focused on several classes of drugs of potential forensic interest including drugs of abuse, phenotiazines, methadone, antidepressant, benzodiazepines, beta blockers and beta stimulants, steroids, etc.…”

Continuous full filling capillary electrochromatography–electrospraying chromatographic nanoparticles

“…The ionization efficiency has been shown being unaffected by the surfactant SDS using both APCI and APPI [12,15,20]. However, ESI is the softest available atmospheric pressure ionization technique and therefore the most commonly used ionization technique today [21,22]. Thus, it would be highly attractive to have at hand a technique enabling the coupling of PSP-based separations with ESI-MS detection.…”