Tandem differential mobility spectrometry with chemical modification of ions

A tandem ion mobility spectrometer with two sequential differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) drift tubes and with detectors at ambient pressure is described and modes of operation are demonstrated. Separate but coordinated electronic control for each drift tube allows several modes of operation including: all ions passing; compensation voltage (CV) scanning; and ion selection over a narrow CV range. Any of these modes can be applied to each drift tube allowing several combinations of analytical measurements, analogous to tandem mass spectrometry, with ions entered into a gas atmosphere containing reagents between the mobility regions. Ions may be changed by cluster or displacement reactions and characterized in the second DMS analyzer. Proton bound dimers of compounds appearing near 0 V CV in DMS1 were isolated in DMS1, introduced into 1 % isopropanol vapors, and resolved at characteristic CV values in the DMS2. This is achieved with analyzer dimensions little greater than a single DMS instrument. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.