Novel ion mobility setup combined with collision cell and time-of-flight mass spectrometer

An ion mobility cell of a novel type was coupled to an orthogonal injection time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. The mobility cell operates at low-pressure and contains a segmented RF ion guide providing an axial electric field that drives the ions towards the exit. A flow of gas is arranged inside the ion guide in such a way that the gas drag counteracts the force exerted by the axial field. Ions with different mobility coefficients can be scanned out of the ion guide by ramping the axial field strength. The ions can be analyzed intact or fragmented in a collision cell before introduction into an orthogonal TOF mass spectrometer. An ion source with matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) was attached to the instrument. The setup was evaluated for the analysis of peptide and protein mixture, with sequential fragmentation of multiple precursor ions from a protein digest and with mobility separation of fragment ions formed by in-source fragmentation of pure peptides. The mobility resolution for peptides was observed to be three times higher than the theoretical resolution predicted for a classical mobility setup with similar operating conditions (pressure, field strength, and length).