ELECTROSPRAY - PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

The basic principles underlying the electrospray process are reviewed without recourse to detailed discussion of mechanisms. The essential f eatures of the practical implementation of electrospray (at various so lution dow rates) are described and the nature of the resultant gas-ph ase ion population is discussed. The generation by electrospray of mul tiply charged ions creates complications in that spectral complexity i s increased and the determination of charge number must precede the me asurement of mass. Multiple charging is beneficial, however, in extend ing the mass range and improving fragmentation yield in tandem mass sp ectrometry. The current breadth of application of the technique (inclu ding the analysis of non-covalently bound species) and future developm ents are discussed. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.