Analysis of neutral surfactants by non-aqueous medium capillary electrophoresis hyphenated to mass spectrometry (ion trap)

Non-derivatized Brij 58 oligomers were analyzed by using non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) hyphenated to mass spectrometry (ion trap). The separation of this neutral polyethylene oxide surfactant was based on its complexation with ammonium cation in methanolic medium. Cationic complexes were formed within the capillary and migrated against the anodic electroosmotic flow. The latter was obtained by using a pre-treatment of the capillary with hexadimethrine bromide. By optimizing mass detection and the separation conditions separately, it was demonstrated that two different salts had to be used. Ammonium acetate was used in the sheath liquid to optimize detection sensitivity whereas ammonium iodide was used in the running electrolyte in order to obtain the more appropriate electroosmotic flow for the separation. Despite an aspiration effect due to the hyphenation with MS. that did not allow us to obtain a baseline resolution for the entire mixture, we were able to visualize and characterize more than 25 oligomers of Brij 58. As regards detection sensitivity, the limits of detection (LOD) were estimated at about 7.5 ng for the entire distribution of Brij 58 and 15 pg for C16E5 or C16E6 used as standards.