Chemometric study of the influence of instrumental parameters on ESI-MS analyte response using full factorial design

Full factorial experimental design technique was used to study the main effects and the interaction effects between instrumental parameters in two mass spectrometers equipped with conventional electrospray ion sources (Thermo LCQ Deca XP and Shimadzu LCMS 2010). Four major parameters (spray voltage, ion transfer capillary temperature, ion transfer capillary voltage, and tube lens voltage) were investigated in both instruments for their contribution to analyte response, leading to a total of 16 experiments performed for each instrument. Significant parameters were identified by plotting the cumulative probability of each treatment against the estimated effects in normal plots. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to evaluate the statistical significance of the effects of the parameters on ESI-MS analyte response. The results reveal a number of important interactions in addition to the main effects for each instrument. In all the experiments performed, the tube lens voltage (or Q-array dc voltage in LCMS 2010) was found to have significant effects on analyte response in both instruments. The tube lens voltage was also found to interact with the capillary temperature in the case of the LCQ Deca XP and with the spray voltage in the case of the LCMS 2010. The results of these experiments provide important considerations in the instrumental optimization of ionization response for ESI-MS analysis.