Abstract
The CEC‐MS of alkyltrimethylammonium (ATMA^+^) ions with chain lengths ranging from C~1~–C~18~ is optimized using an internally tapered column packed with mixed mode reversed phase/strong cation exchange stationary phase. A systematic study of the CEC separation parameters is conducted followed by evaluation of the ESI‐MS sheath liquid and spray chamber settings. First, the optimization of CEC separation parameters are performed including the ACN concentration, triethylamine (TEA) content, buffer pH and ammonium acetate concentration. Using 90% v/v ACN with 0.04% v/v TEA as mobile phase, the separation of longer chain C~6~–C~18~‐TMA^+^ surfactants could be achieved in 15 min. Lowering the ACN concentration to 70% v/v provided resolution of shorter chain C~1~, C~2~‐TMA^+^ from C~6~‐TMA^+^ although the total analysis time increased to 40 min. Furthermore, variation of both the ACN and TEA content as well as ionic strength has found to significantly influence the retention of longer chain surfactants as compared to shorter chains. The optimum CEC conditions are 70% v/v ACN, 0.04% v/v TEA, pH 3.0 and 15 mM ammonium acetate. Next, the optimization of the ESI‐MS sheath liquid composition is conducted comparing methanol to isopropanol followed by the use of experimental design for analysis of spray chamber parameters. Overall, the developed CEC‐ESI‐MS method allows quantitative and sensitive monitoring of ATMA^+^ from ≤10 μg/mL down to 10 ng/mL. Utilizing the optimized CEC‐ESI‐MS protocol, the challenging analysis of commercial sample Arquad S‐50 ATMA^+^ containing cis‐trans unsaturated and saturated soyabean fatty acid derivatives is demonstrated.