Treatise on the measurement of molecular masses with ion mobility spectrometry.

The ability to separate isotopes by high-resolution ion mobility spectrometry techniques is considered as a direct means for determining mass at ambient pressures. Calculations of peak shapes from the transport equation show that it should be possible to separate isotopes for low-mass ions (<200) by utilizing heavy collision gases and high-resolution ion mobility analyzers. The mass accuracy associated with this isotopic separation approach based on ion mobility separation is considered. Finally, we predict several isotopes that should be separable.