ABSTRACT
Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) using drift tube technology has a history of almost half a century. Initially, drift tube studies were used in chemical physics research for acquiring information about ion-molecule reactions.(1-3) Ion mobility spectrometry coupled to mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) has also been known for a very long time. IMS systems with an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight spectrometer as ion detector were already reported in the 1970s.(1) In recent years mass spectrometric analysis of mobility-separated ions became very popular not only due to the extra dimension of information that helps in the analytical differentiation of compounds, but also due to the useful option of separating components of a mixture. Ionic cross section information directly obtained from ion mobility experiments is very important feedback for structural studies and conformational analysis in particular for biopolymers.(4-13)
Conventional gas phase ion mobility measurements are performed in a drift tube filled with a stationary buffer gas, and an electric field is used to accelerate the ions.
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 53 3.2 Details of the Ion Mobility Experiments ........................................................ 58 3.3 Results of the Experiments .............................................................................60
