Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry: History, general principles, theoretical aspects, and state-of-the-art applications

This chapter presents the main features of capillary electrophoresis hyphenated with mass spectrometry (CE-MS), its advantages over CE techniques employing conventional detectors such as the ultraviolet and diode array detectors. Special attention is paid to the latest developments related to instrumentation and methodology especially in coupling CE with MS. Interfaces currently used, e.g., sheath-liquid, sheathless, and liquid-junction, are also illustrated. In order to document the usefulness of CE-MS, some selected applications in the field of proteomics, pharmaceutical, environmental, food, and forensic analysis are presented and discussed.