Electrolyte system strategies for anionic isotachophoresis with electrospray-ionization mass-spectrometric detection. 1. Regular isotachophoresis and free-acid isotachophoresis.

The subject of this work is the definition of a simple model based on general ITP theory that allows describing and predicting the behavior of ITP systems compatible with ESI-MS detection. The model is exemplified by anionic ITP of weak acids that represent an interesting potential application field of ITP-ESI-MS. Suitable ESI-compatible electrolyte systems of very simple composition are proposed including a special free-acid ITP arrangement. The properties of these systems are discussed using illustrative diagrams of their stacking windows. The use of anionic ITP-ESI-MS in negative-ion ESI mode is reported for the first time and its suitability for sensitive trace analysis is demonstrated. The presented ITP-ESI-MS application example comprises a free-acid ITP system formed of formic and propionic acids and direct injection analysis of ibuprofen and diclofenac in waters with quantitation limits of the order 10(-10) M.