AB SCIEX Expands Eksigent Microflow UHPLC Capabilities for LC/MS Workflows

AB SCIEX has announced the extension of capabilities in Eksigent microflow ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with the launch of new electrospray ionization electrodes for use with the industry standard Turbo V™ ionization source.

These small diameter electrodes significantly improve bioanalytical separation, resulting in higher sensitivity, better resolution and improved throughput with Eksigent microflow UHPLC systems.

Scientists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences are among the first to have early access to these small diameter electrodes for the Eksigent micro LC workflow.

These scientists are performing high throughput amino acid analysis for clinical research.

To improve throughput, they went from high-flow LC to microflow LC by switching to the ExpressHT™-Ultra system, speeding up the run time for plasma samples sixfold, which they analyze for derivatized “free” amino acids.

“The new Eksigent microflow electrodes enable us to further reduce the inject-to-inject time by more than 30 per cent, enabling us to analyze more samples per day,” said Prof. John Thaden, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Geriatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/HLKN, Texas A&M.

Prof. Thaden continued, “This translates into valuable time and cost savings. With these new electrodes for the Eksigent microflow system, the speed of the instrument is no longer the bottleneck. I now think of micro LC in a whole new way.”

The ability to detect lower levels of analytes in many sample types is a constant need in any analytical laboratory. By concentrating similar injection volumes into smaller analyte elution volumes, microflow UHPLC is a simple and cost-effective way to improve sensitivity (LOQs) in order to meet this need.

With the lower flow rates utilized with micro LC, the use of smaller diameter electrospray ionization electrodes minimize peak dispersion, resulting in high performance separations with sharper, narrower sample peaks.

This enables scientists to speed up their gradients without losing their required chromatographic separation. In addition, narrower peaks lead to increased peak height, which improves sensitivity.

In addition to the new electrodes, AB SCIEX is introducing a new hardware kit for use with the ExpressHT™-Ultra System that enables closer mounting of heated columns to the Turbo V source to minimize tubing lengths and further maximize chromatographic resolution.

When the new electrodes are combined with the new column heater mounting hardware, peak dispersion is minimized from the LC all the way into the mass spectrometer. This allows scientists to obtain higher quality chromatography.

Because the peaks are narrower, the LC/MS gradient can be made faster. These electrodes are designed to work with the Eksigent ExpressHT™-Ultra System on the AB SCIEX QTRAP®, Triple Quad™ and TripleTOF™ systems.

“Advancements in Eksigent technology continue to make it easier for scientists to adopt micro LC,” said Tina Settineri, Director of HPLC products for Eksigent at AB SCIEX.

Settineri continued, “We are seeing an increasing number of scientists, especially in bioanalytical laboratories, look to this proven, lower-flow liquid chromatography approach as an attractive solution for improved sensitivity and throughput for LC/MS. It reduces the burden on the mass spectrometer while delivering significant savings in solvent cost and disposal fees. Eksigent brings a new dimension to LC/MS-based analysis.”