use low concentration HCL on LC-MS

Question

Can 0.012 N HCL be used in LC-MS? I know HCL shouldn't be used for LC column. This is a old method which is used to analyze Malic acid in our lab. The are two peaks in my pure standard chromatogram. The method is using UV detector at 210 nm, mobile phase is 0.012 N HCL and water as solvent. I wanted to use the method on LC-MS to identify the 2nd peak. Is it safe to use 0.012 N HCL on LC-MS? Will it damage the analyzer? I use a mixture of low concentration of Nitric acid and HCL on ICP-MS to analyze heavy metal in our products regularly. But I don't know that I can 0.012 N HCL on single-quad(Agilent 6100) or not. Thanks in advance

Admin · Accepted Answer

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dannymobbs · Answer

Yes it will likely damage the MS. Sorry for the delay but I was waiting for some other opinions from our Product Support teams.....

Also, HCl has been cited as an ion pair reagent and as such could adversely affect the sensitivty of your measurements.

All round - not a good idea. Switching to a more amenable modifier like those cited in the paper I attached will cause work in the short term but will give you a robust method long term with less instrument downtime. If you can play the long game, it will pay dividends I believe.

Again, good luck with this,

Danny