황민욱 (POSTECH)

황민욱 (POSTECH)

 Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has emerged as a powerful tool for separating gas-phase ions based on their shape and size. While high-resolution IMS can distinguish many isomeric or conformational species, structural information is only limited to their overall shape. Complementary information is needed when structural differences are subtle or when conformational interconversion occurs on the IMS timescale. To address these limitations, we have developed a tandem high-resolution IMS platform incorporating a photoactivation region between two ~2.2 m long SLIM modules, enabling mobility-based separation in conjunction with light-induced structural change.

First, mobility-selected ions are circulated cyclically within an IMS loop while being continuously irradiated by a laser. This setup is designed to address the challenge of resolving isomeric ions that undergo rapid structural interconversion (e.g., A ↔ B) on the IMS timescale. By repeatedly exposing ions to light during their mobility separation, we induce structural conversion in transit, thereby enabling separation of conformers that would otherwise collapse into a single peak.