Elemental speciation analysis in biochemistry by electrospray mass spectrometry

The recent advances and trends in the development and applications of electrospray mass spectrometry(ESI-MS) to speciation analysis are highlighted. The use of the different operational modes of ESI-MS: elemental mode(source collision-induced dissociation (SCID)), molecular mode (MS of protonated molecule ions) and tandem MS mode(product ion scan of the collision-induced dissociation (CID) products of the protonated molecule ion), is discussed. Advantages and limitations of ESI-MS for signal identification in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ICP-MS and as a freestanding tool for species-selective analysis are highlighted. The discussion is illustrated with a number of examples related to the trace element speciation in biochemistry, viz. selenium in yeast, arsenic in seaweeds, cobalamins in pharmaceutical preparations, and Cd complexes with phytochelatins and metallothioneins in plant and animal tissues (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.