On the path to analytical utopia through the resolution of isomers by mass spectrometry

Advances in mass spectrometry over recent years have significantly improved the mass-resolving power of modern instrumentation and the speed with which high mass-accuracy data can be acquired. These advances have underpinned increased confidence in compound identification in complex mixtures and opened up entirely new means of data acquisition including the next generation of data-independent analytical workflows. While powerful, an inherent limitation in all these analytical approaches lies in the discrimination of isomers which, by definition, share the same elemental composition and thus the exact same mass. Conventional approaches to isomer discrimination have relied on chromatographic separations prior to mass analysis and tandem mass spectrometry however, this has proven a limited tool box for structurally similar isomers (e.g., regioisomers) and can significantly extend analysis times. Fortunately, exciting new developments in ion-mobility and ion-activation technologies are emerging to tackle the challenge of isomer-discrimination by mass spectrometry. This presentation will address the latest developments in these rapidly emerging technology areas in the context of lipidomic analysis with examples illustrating effective discrimination of regio- and even stereo-isomers.
















Stephen Blanksby (Queensland University of Technology)