Devices and methods for coupling mass spectrometry devices with chromatography systems

1. A method comprising:

continuously providing a non-polar solvent to a mass spectrometry device;

applying a liquid sample to a first end of a solid phase extraction column;

flowing the liquid sample over the solid phase extraction column in a first direction;

flowing the non-polar solvent over the solid phase extraction column in a second direction; and

presenting the non-polar solvent and the eluted sample received from the first end of the solid phase extraction column to the mass spectrometry device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid sample is a sample received from a liquid chromatography device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid sample is a sample received from an ion exchange chromatography device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid sample is a sample received from a size exclusion chromatography device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

optically analyzing the liquid sample to generate an optical data set.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

associating the optical data set with a data set generated by the mass spectrometry device.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

flowing a polar wash solution over the solid phase extraction column.

8. A sample injection system for coupling a liquid chromatography device with a mass spectrometry device, the system comprising:

a sample injection valve having:

i. a first position that allows sample from the liquid chromatography device to pass through the sample injection system, and

ii. a second position that loads sample from the liquid chromatography device onto a sample supply loop; and

a column control valve configured to facilitate a continuous flow of an elution solvent to a sample analyzer, the column control valve having:

i. a first position that simultaneously delivers the fluidic sample from the sample supply loop to a solid phase extraction column in a first direction and delivers an elution solvent to the sample analyzer, and

ii. a second position that flows the elution solvent over the solid phase extraction column in a second direction to deliver the fluidic sample and the elution solvent to the sample analyzer.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

an optical detector for analyzing the sample from the liquid chromatography device.

10. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

a diversion valve located between the liquid chromatography device and the sample injection valve.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the diversion valve is actuated as a result of signal generated by the optical detector.

12. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a fraction collector.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the elution solvent is a polar solvent.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the elution solvent is a non-polar solvent.

15. A method of preparing an eluted sample from a liquid chromatography device for analysis by a mass spectrometry device, the method comprising:

continuously providing a polar solvent to the mass spectrometry device;

receiving the eluted sample from the liquid chromatography device;

flowing the eluted sample over a HILIC column in a first direction;

flowing the polar solvent over the HILIC column in a second direction; and

presenting the polar solvent and the eluted sample to the mass spectrometry device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the liquid chromatography device is one selected from the group consisting of: an ion exchange chromatography device, a cation exchange chromatography device, and a size exclusion chromatography device.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

optically analyzing the eluted sample from the liquid chromatography device to generate an optical data set.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

associating the optical data set with a data set generated by the mass spectrometry device.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

flowing a polar wash solution over the solid phase extraction column.