Using nonequilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures for the determination of temperature in capillary electrophoresis

Until now, all methods for temperature sensing in capillary electrophoresis (CE) relied on molecular probes with temperature-dependent spectral/optical properties. Here we introduce a nonspectroscopic approach to determining temperature in CE. It is based on measuring a temperature-dependent rate constant of complex dissociation by means of a kinetic CE method known as nonequilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures (NECEEM). Conceptually, a calibration curve of "the rate constant versus temperature" is built using NECEEM and a CE instrument with a reliable temperature control or, alternatively, a nonelectrophoretic method, such as surface plasmon resonance. The calibration curve is then used to find the temperature during CE in the same buffer but with another CE apparatus or under otherwise different conditions (cooling efficiency, length and diameter of the capillary, electrical field, etc.). In this proof-of-principle work, we used the dissociation of a proteinDNA complex to demonstrate that the NECEEM-based temperature determination method allows for temperature determination in CE with a precision of 2 degreesC. Then, we applied the NECEEM-based temperature determination method to study heat dissipation efficiency in CE instruments with active and passive cooling of the capillary. The nonspectroscopic nature of the method makes it potentially applicable to nonspectroscopic detection schemes, e.g. electrochemical detection. A "kinetic probe" can be coloaded into the capillary along with a sample for in situ temperature measurements. Higher order chemical reactions can also be used for temperature sensing, provided a kinetic CE method for measuring a corresponding rate constant is available.