Capillary ion chromatography–mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of glucosylglycerol and sucrose in intracellular extracts of cyanobacteria

•A highly selective and sensitive CIC–MS method was developed.•The quantification for low molecular sugars (glucose, sucrose, lactose, trehalose, mannitol, fructose and glucosylglycerol) was achieved by MS detector.•Using smaller columns to increase the separation performance and the sensitivity. Limits of detection of sodium adduct were obtained with MS detection in selected ion mode for GG (0.006mg/L), sucrose (0.02mg/L), and other carbohydrates (0.03mg/L).•A new application of CIC–MS method was presented in the field of biotechnology.