Evaluation of hybrid surface technology for the analysis of the B-group vitamins by LC-ESI-MS/MS

•The analysis of B vitamins by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS, including phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated B vitamers, was significantly improved by the Hybrid Surface Technology.•The major improvements include increased sensitivity, elimination of carry-over, and better peak shape.•The positive impacts were observed not only in the initial use stage, but also in the normal use stage.•The hybrid surface technology provides a generic, effective, and robust solution to mitigate the metal analyte adsorption in LC. Recently, a novel hybrid surface technology (HST) has been developed to mitigate metal analyte adsorption in liquid chromatography. The HST provides a hybrid organic–inorganic surface on the metal fluidic path, from injection to detector and including the column frits and wall, to mitigate the interaction between analytes and metals. Here the impact of the HST on the analysis of B group vitamins using liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) has been evaluated. Significant improvements in analyte intensity, limit of quantification (LOQ), carry-over, and peak shape were observed using an LC-ESI-MS/MS system and column that incorporated the HST. The key observed improvements include a 3–10 times increase in sensitivity (providing a lower LOQ) for riboflavin, thiamine, nicotinamide, FMN, PLP, and 5MTHF, no carry-over, and a more symmetrical peak for thiamine. When applied to the analysis of B group vitamins in energy drinks and B vitamin dietary supplement samples, the HST system demonstrated excellent accuracy and repeatability.