Revolutionary Cyclic Ion Mobility

Ion mobility is an established technique in many applications. When coupled to mass spectrometry, it provides:

• The ability to separate on shape as well as m/z, enabling separation of isomers
• Significantly cleaner mass spectral data
• A measure of the ions Collisional Cross Section (CCS).

The circular path of the Cyclic Ion Mobility (cIM) device minimises instrument footprint whilst providing precise collisional cross section values (<0.5% RSD), multi pass variable, high resolution (>400) ion mobility separations and IMSⁿ.

The SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS enables selection of ions by both mass and mobility, a unique and enabling functionality of cIM providing unparalleled flexibility and capabilities for research studies in both academia and industry.

Discover more with ultimate ion mobility resolution

The instrument design and control software enables a range of experiments, including acquisition of Tof data, Single pass ion mobility, and the ability to scale mobility resolution to match the complexity of a sample. Ion mobility resolution increases with the length of the mobility device and therefore with the number of passes.

Unlock the potential in scientific discovery

The unique instrument design facilitates advanced ion mobilty experiments.

IMSⁿ Isolation - Extends the resolution of a specific mobility range, e.g. ions of a specific species. Eject ions (without acquisition) outside of the desired mobility range, leaving the remaining species in the cIM to continue the separation process. This ‘trimming’ approach can be undertaken numberous times and can be used, for example, to increase specificity of the selected ions or to prevent “wrap-around” in the cIM where high mobility ions catch up with low mobility ions in multi-pass experiments.

Undertake advanced structural characterization

IMSⁿ Activation – For advanced structural characterisation. During mobility separation, excise a segment of the mobility separated species and send the ions to the pre array storage device. Unwanted ions are ejected and the stored ions are then re-injected into the array under collision induced activation/dis-sociation conditions, as required, and subsequent mobility separation performed. The product ions can then be sent to the Tof for detection or can undergo further rounds of mobility selection providing the unique IMSⁿ capability.

Collision Induced Dissociation (CID)

The traditional collision induced dissociation (CID) technique accelerates gaseous ions into a dense gas filled chamber of the mass spectrometer where collision with a neutral species (e.g., nitrogen or argon) causes bonds to break and fragmentation to occur. The SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS includes three regions where CID is possible:

1. Trap region - for fragmentation pre ion mobility
2. Mobility - region for IMSⁿ
3. Transfer region - for fragmentation post ion mobility.

Electron Capture Dissociation (ECD)

Comprehensive characterization and analysis of complex biomolecules requires more than just CID-derived data, and that’s why the SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS now offers two new exciting fragmentation techniques: Electron Capture Dissociation (ECD) in partnership with e-MSion, Inc. (Portland, Oregon) and Surface Induced Dissociation (SID) in collaboration with Prof. Vicki Wysocki from The Ohio State University.

ECD is initiated by electron attachment/transfer to multiply-protonated molecules, which induces cleavage at N–Cα bonds, in a peptide backbone. ECD preserves unstable side-chain modifications during fragmentation and generates complementary data to CID providing more detailed structural information, increased sequence coverage and greater confidence for more complete characterization of proteins, PTMs, and glycans.

Surface Induce Dissociation (SID)

SID (where a surface replaces collision gas to effect fragmentation) provides information about sub-unit stoichiometry for protein complexes. Combining SID with cyclic IMS allows resolution of the different oligomeric states, which overlap in mass-to-charge but can be separated in the gas phase by ion mobility.

The combination of CID, ECD and SID with cyclic ion mobility provides a significantly enhanced tool set for protein characterization.

Imaging mass spectrometry with DESI XS and Cyclic IMS

The unique combination of DESI XS with SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS provides ultimate levels of specificity for MS imaging approaches. DESI XS produces a visual map of the spatial distribution of a wide range of analytes, for example small molecule drugs, metabolites and lipids across the surface of a tissue sample, and the unique capabilities and modes of acquisition of Cyclic IMS enable comprehensive in-depth experiments to be performed.

The data shown here shows how high-resolution cyclic ion mobility mass spectrometry can be used to reveal different isomeric species not observed by mass spectrometry alone, or even in lower resolution ion mobility mass spectrometry experiments.

Take control

The new look MassLynx allows interactive control of the instrument and facilitates set-up of cyclic IMS methods, giving the user full control and allowing set-up of the sophisticated IMSⁿ experiments. Mobility Miner data visualization software has been specifically designed to accommodate the data from the SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS. This provides enhanced data visualization tools and data export functionality.  Importantly this software provides a platform for continued development to meet the increasing needs of mass spec experts.

Confidence in what you find

To complement the novel Cyclic Ion Mobility capability and for complete confidence in your data, the SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS is equipped with the latest Tof technology.

The XS transfer device maintains the fidelity of the ion mobility separation whilst simultaneously conditioning the ion beam for the very best time-of-flight performance. The new offset oa-Tof with dual gain detection system provides improved sensitivity, resolution >100,000 (FWHM), reliable accurate exact mass measurements (low ppm) and improved dynamic range.