Co- and counter-electroosmotic flow capillary electrophoresis of anionic phenols using UV and MS detection

Co- and counter-electroosmotic flow (EOF) capillary electrophoresis (CE) of anionic phenols, using UV and mass spectrometry (MS) detection were investigated. The co-EOF CE-UV detection was performed by using hexadimethrine bromide (HDB) as an EOF modifier, which provided the separation in 6.2min. The counter-EOF CE-MS was obtained without HDB and coupling was achieved by sheath liquid interface. The CE-UV provided the better linearity (r20.99) than the CE-MS (r20.81), however, both methods gave comparable detection limits (5g/mL). CE-UV is efficient for the routine quantitative analysis, whereas CE-MS is useful for identification of the phenols.