Separation of isomeric disaccharides by traveling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry using CO2 as drift gas.

The use of CO(2) as a massive and polarizable drift gas is shown to greatly improve peak-to-peak resolution (R(p-p) ), as compared with N(2) , for the separation of disaccharides in a Synapt G2 traveling wave ion mobility cell. Near or baseline R(p-p) was achieved for three pairs of sodiated molecules of disaccharide isomers, that is, cellobiose and sucrose (R(p-p)  = 0.76), maltose and sucrose (R(p-p)  = 1.04), and maltose and lactose (R(p-p)  = 0.74). Ion mobility mass spectrometry using CO(2) as the drift gas offers therefore an attractive alternative for fast and efficient separation of isomeric disaccharides.