2024/01/01 by Schaefer, Christoph, Allers, Maria, Hitzemann, Moritz +6
Chemistry · Engineering · #530 #Analytical chemistry methods development #Fragmentation #Ion-surface interactions and analysis #Ionization #Ions #Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications #Polarity #Reaction mechanisms
paper · doi:10.15488/20042
openalex publication_date 2024/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
High Kinetic Energy Ion Mobility Spectrometers (HiKE-IMS) ionize and separate ions at reduced pressures of 10–40 mbar and over a wide range of reduced electric field strengths E/N of up to 120 Td. Their reduced operating pressure is distinct from that of conventional drift tube ion mobility spectrometers that operate at ambient pressure for trace compound detection. High E/N can lead to a field-induced fragmentation pattern that provides more specific structural information about the analytes. In addition, operation at high E/N values adds the field dependence of ion mobility as an additional separation dimension to low-field ion mobility, making interfering compounds less likely to cause a false positive alarm. In this work, we study the chemical warfare agents tabun (GA), sarin (GB), soman (GD), cyclosarin (GF) and sulfur mustard (HD) in a HiKE-IMS at variable E/N in both the reaction and the drift region. The results show that varying E/N can lead to specific fragmentation patterns at high E/N values combined with molecular signals at low E/N. Compared to the operation at a single E/N value in the drift region, the variation of E/N in the drift region also provides the analyte-specific field dependence of ion mobility as additional information. The accumulated data establish a unique fingerprint for each analyte that allows for reliable detection of chemical warfare agents even in the presence of interfering compounds with similar low-field ion mobilities, thus reducing false positives.