CZE and ESI-MS of borate-sugar complexes

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) was used to study borate (B−1) and sugar (L) complexes (L x B−1). Boric acid was adjusted to pH 10 with ammonium hydroxide to create an ESI-MS compatible CZE background electrolyte. We show for the first time that the electrophoretic peaks for each injected sugar contained both the substrates (i.e., sugar and/or multimers) and products (i.e., L x B−1). The effects of sheath liquid, temperature, and borate concentration were studied. The molecular mass information obtained from the ESI-MS provided new evidence on the mechanisms of borate-sugar complexation. Direct infusion ESI-MS and CZE-ESI-MS experiments strongly suggest that the formation of L x B−1 was from the direct reaction of a sugar or sugar multimer (L x ) and B−1. Larger L x B−1, where x > 2 were observed. Separation in the CZE dimension allows for the simultaneous analysis of a sugar mixture and simplified the ESI-MS analysis of sugars of the same molecular mass. The increase in sugar electrophoretic mobility caused by the increase in borate concentration was discussed in terms of the formation of L x B−1 complexes. In addition, the separation of five nucleosides by CZE using a borate electrolyte and detection using ESI-MS is demonstrated.