Construction of a supercritical fluid chromatograph-mass spectrometer instrument system using capillary columns, and a chemical ionization source accepting high flow-rates of mobile phase

Abstract An instrument combining capillary supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and mass spectrometry (MS) with chemical ionization is described. Stable experimental SFC-MS conditions were obtained when utilizing a short restrictor at the end of a SFC capillary column, typically a 3 mm × 5 μm I.D. fused-silica capillary tube. The vacuum pumping capacity of the mass spectrometer and the special design of the ion source permitted supercritical fluid flow-rates up to 50 μl/min to be used. Preliminary results obtained with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and various lipids are reported.