[en] The transfer of ions from solution to gas phase is a critical step to produce « native species ». Coming from a highly solvating medium, ionic species will tend to find new equilibrium conformations in the gas phase. The pathway to reach the thermodynamically stable conformation(s) involves crossing potential barriers according to the type of interactions involved. When these barriers are too high compared to the internal energy of the ions, it may result in a “partial memory” (as structural preservation) of the conformation in solution.
In order to evaluate the effect of the solvent evaporation and of the various collision processes encountered by the ions in the mass spectrometer we based our strategy on the determination of deviations from a spherical shape, supposed to be the natural state of ions in the gas phase.
