Rapid on-chip monitoring of chemical transformations by seamless coupling of digital microfluidics and mass spectrometry through a chip-integrated micro spray hole

数字微流体（DMF）代表了集成化学电路发明的理想愿景，其中化学过程是数字控制的，就像魔法一样运行。将DMF作为一种新型合成发现平台的缺失环节是芯片上特定化学的实时分析。通过无缝耦合数字微流体和质谱，这将成为可能。在我们最近工作的基础上，这将通过集成微喷孔（μSH）和静电喷雾电离（ESTASI）的应用将液滴从内部芯片转移到质谱仪来实现。与目前的技术状态相反，要保持DMF平台上液滴的完全移动性，这允许后续DMF工艺的无故障处理。

Digital microfluidics (DMF) represents the ideal vision for the invention of an integrated chemical circuit in which chemical processes are digitally controlled and run as if by magic. The missing link to unlock DMF as a novel synthetic discovery platform is on-chip chemistry-specific real-time analytics. This will be made possible by seamlessly coupling digital microfluidics and mass spectrometry. Building on our recent work, this will be achieved through an integrated microspray hole (μSH) and the application of electrostatic spray ionisation (ESTASI) to transfer a droplet fraction from the inner chip to the mass spectrometer. In contrast to the current state of the art, the full mobility of the droplet on the DMF platform is to be maintained, which allows trouble-free processing of subsequent DMF processes.