Microwave enhanced enzymatic reactor for proteomics by mass spectrometry

1. A microwave microstrip resonator apparatus comprising:

a) a housing;

b) a resonator within the housing;

c) an output conductor within the housing and spaced apart from the resonator so as to define a capacitive gap therebetween;

d) a reaction vessel configured to reside within the capacitive gap;

e) a power supply coupled to the resonator whereby contents within the reaction vessel are heated when energy is supplied to the resonator by the power supply; and

f) a microstrip antenna wherein the dimension and shape of the microstrip antenna is modified to change the electric field strength in the capacitive gap.

2. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

g) a mass spectrometer operably coupled to an outlet end of the reaction vessel wherein the contents within the reaction vessel are delivered to the mass spectrometer for analysis.

3. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:

h) a second power supply coupled to the reaction vessel wherein electrospray ionization of the contents occurs when energy is supplied to the reaction vessel by the second power supply.

4. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 3 wherein the electrospray ionization is nano-electrospray ionization.

5. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reaction vessel includes at least one immobilized enzyme therein.

6. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 5 wherein the at least one immobilized enzyme is covalently bonded to an inner surface of the reaction vessel.

7. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 5 wherein the at least one immobilized enzyme is attached to a bead and wherein the reaction vessel includes a packed bed of the beads.

8. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 7 wherein the bead comprises a microwave absorbing material.

9. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:

h) continuous flow system coupled to an inlet end of said reaction vessel.

10. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 9 wherein the continuous flow system comprises one or more of liquid chromatography, flow injection analysis, capillary electrophoresis and multidimensional separations.

11. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 1 wherein microwave dielectric heating of the reaction vessel is rapidly modulated to control reaction temperature and kinetics within the reaction vessel.

12. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 1 comprising a plurality of microstrip antennae configured to vary the electric field strength in the capacitive gap along a length of the reaction vessel.

13. A method of online digestion and mass analysis comprising:

a) providing a microwave microstrip resonator apparatus including:

i) a housing;

ii) a resonator within the housing;

iii) an output conductor within the housing and spaced apart from the resonator so as to define a capacitive gap therebetween;

iv) a reaction vessel including a sample wherein the reaction vessel is configured to reside within the capacitive gap;

v) a power supply coupled to the resonator;

vi) a microstrip antenna wherein the dimension and shape of the microstrip antenna is modified to change the electric field strength in the capacitive gap; and

vii) a mass spectrometer operably coupled to an outlet end of the reaction vessel;

b) supplying a voltage to the resonator using the power supply to heat the sample within the reaction vessel to produce one or more digestion products; and

c) performing mass spectrometry on the digestion products.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the microwave microstrip resonator apparatus further includes a second power supply coupled to the reaction vessel wherein electrospray ionization of the contents occurs when a voltage is supplied to the reaction vessel by the second power supply.

15. A microwave microstrip resonator apparatus comprising:

a) a housing;

b) a resonator within the housing;

c) an output conductor within the housing and spaced apart from the resonator so as to define a capacitive gap therebetween, wherein the capacitive gap is configured to receive a reaction vessel therein;

d) a power supply coupled to the resonator and configured to heat contents within the reaction vessel when an electric field is supplied to the resonator by the power supply; and

e) a microstrip antenna, wherein the dimension and shape of the microstrip antenna is modified to change the strength of the electric field in the capacitive gap.

16. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 15 comprising a plurality of microstrip antennae configured to vary the electric field strength in the capacitive gap along a length of the reaction vessel.

17. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 15 further comprising:

f) a mass spectrometer configured to be operably coupled to an outlet end of the reaction vessel wherein the contents within the reaction vessel are delivered to the mass spectrometer for analysis.

18. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 17 further comprising:

g) a second power supply configured to be coupled to the reaction vessel wherein electrospray ionization of the contents occurs when energy is supplied to the reaction vessel by the second power supply.

19. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 18 further comprising:

h) a continuous flow system configured to be coupled to an inlet end of the reaction vessel, wherein the continuous flow system comprises one or more of liquid chromatography, flow injection analysis, capillary electrophoresis and multidimensional separations.

20. The microwave microstrip resonator apparatus of claim 15 wherein microwave dielectric heating of the reaction vessel is rapidly modulated to control reaction temperature and kinetics within the reaction vessel.