Contribution of ion mobility for structural analysis and analytical chemistry: Use of selective IMS shift reagents (SSR)

Ion mobility is a gas phase separation technique based on the Collisional Cross Section (CCS) of ions. It discriminates isobaric and isomeric ions provided their CCS difference is larger than the instrumental resolution. This work proposes a new method to overcome this limitation while providing additional structural information. A Selective Shift Reagent (SSR) is a ligand specifically modifying the CCS of ions. Indeed specific non-covalent complexes can be form with a suitable SSR to reach the required selectivity and the CCS induced shift. A CID dissociation of the complex may be used after IMS separation to produce specific MS/MS spectra of the targeted analyte. This concept paves the way for new analytical strategies by ion mobility based on non-covalent complex formation.