Cold-spray ionization mass spectrometry: applications in structural coordination chemistry.

Electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass spectrometry (MS) is generally used for the characterization of labile supramolecules in which non-covalent bonding interactions are predominant. However, molecular ions are not detected in many cases because of their instability, and even if such ions are detected, thermal decomposition generates fragment ions that also appear in the mass spectrum. Cold-spray ionization (CSI) is designed for the MS detection of labile organic species. It is used to analyze the structures of biomolecular complexes and labile organic species in solution. The method, a variant of ESI-MS, operates at low temperature, allowing simple and precise characterization of labile non-covalent complexes that are difficult or impossible to observe by conventional MS techniques. The CSI method is particularly suitable for elucidating the structures of labile organometallic compounds in solution as it offers a means to investigate the dynamic behavior of unstable molecules and/or labile clusters in solution. Various labile organic compounds are analyzed by using the CSI method in the field of organic chemistry. CSI-MS is also used to investigate the behavior of aggregated steroid compounds, namely, bisguanidinobenzene-benzoic acid complexes, in solution. This method is a powerful tool for analyzing the equilibria of multiply linked self-assembling catenanes in solution. Its application to unstable and complex supramolecules will be shown. We have developed an effective ionization method that uses metal-complex-based ionization probes containing 2,6-bis(oxazolinyl) pyridine (pybox) ligands. Using this method, we were able to detect multiply charged ions of target molecules. This method was proven to effectively ionize large complex molecules, including biomolecules and various supramolecules, as well as carbon clusters, such as fullerenes. Moreover, isotope-labeled pybox-La complexes were used to clearly detect isotopic labeling shifts. Their applications to multiply charged ionization, including isotope labeling of biomolecules and carbon clusters using CSI-MS, will be shown.