Isolation of Crude Oil Peaks Differing by m/z ∼0.1 via Tandem Mass Spectrometry Using a Cyclic Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometer

Abstract

Mass spectrometry is widely used in studying the structures of compounds present in crude oil. In this study, a novel mass spectrometer incorporating a cyclic ion mobility separator was used to obtain tandem mass spectra of crude oil compounds in a narrow mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) window. Isolation of specific peaks was performed by combining quadrupole and ion mobility separation. As a result, peaks differing by an m/z value of 0.1 could be isolated. Tandem mass spectrometry with collision-induced dissociation was successfully performed to study the chemical structures of the isolated ions. A series of ions ranging from m/z 374 to m/z 384, differing by two hydrogen atoms but with the same number of carbons, were isolated and tandem mass spectra were obtained. The higher m/z precursor ions produced smaller fragment ions; this is explained by the reduced aromaticity owing to an increased number of hydrogen atoms. The ions at m/z 388 and 374, differing by a CH2 group, produced very similar fragmentation patterns. Overall, the data obtained from this study clearly demonstrate that the novel cyclic ion mobility-mass spectrometer is a powerful instrument that can provide tandem mass spectra of individual compounds constituting complex mixtures such as crude oils.

Analysis of environmental organic matters by Ultrahigh‐Resolution mass spectrometry—A review on the development of analytical methods

“…The resolution of the gas-phase separation is increased by the square root of the path length (Giles et al, 2019). When both quadrupole isolation and ion mobility selection are used together, ions can be isolated within a window of ~0.1 m/z (E. Cho et al, 2019); this is extremely useful to analyze individual compounds in a complex organic mixture.…”

Exploring Complex Mixtures by Cyclic Ion Mobility High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry: Application Toward Petroleum

“…The instrument and the cIMS device were described in detail elsewhere (Scheme S1). ,, The cIMS platform allowed for the high reproducibility of the drift time measurements with a general day-to-day deviation of below 2%. Mass spectra were acquired in positive ion mode for m / z 50–1000 and for 3 min, accounting for roughly 180 scans.…”

“…These first studies have been applied mainly for the separation of isomers of molecules such as polysaccharides, , proteins, and antibiotics . Nevertheless, this technique has also been tested within the framework of a petroleum application …”

Synthesis of an Exhaustive Library of Naturally Occurring Galf-Manp and Galp-Manp Disaccharides. Toward Fingerprinting According to Ring Size by Advanced Mass Spectrometry-Based IM-MS and IRMPD

“…As shown in the literature, this level of IM resolution allows the gas phase separation of isomers and conformers prior to their mass measurement. [56][57][58] After massselection of each disaccharide using a quadrupole filter, we recorded the set of gas-phase conformations for each ion, translated into CCS distributions (CCSDs). As shown in figure 2 for the eight FP and PP disaccharides, a single disaccharide can give a single conformer or multiple ones with different CCSs, intensities, and peak shapes.…”