Abstract: A nano-electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometer (nanoESI-IMS) was built up. Firstly, the effects of the parameters such as drift gas flow rate and solvent flow rate on the desolvation capability were studied and optimized. Then, a series of compounds were used to characterize the nanoESI-IMS system. The results showed that, complete desolvation was achieved for nano-electrospray ion droplets with the nanoESI-IMS apparatus. The limit of detection of this instrument for trioctylamine could reach 10 μg/L. Finally, this instrument was coupled to the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a detector for amines analysis. A test mixture containing triethylamine, diethylamine and butylamine was successfully separated and determined by the HPLC-nanoESI-IMS system. Linear response ranges of about two orders of magnitude were achieved for triethylamine, diethylamine and butylamine with this system.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ion mobility spectrometry, nano-electrospray ionization source, reduced mobility