Monitoring Metallo-Macromolecular Assembly Equilibria by Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry.

Ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) allows the separation of isomeric and isobaric species on the basis of their size, shape, and charge. The fast separation timescale (ms) and high sensitivity of these measurements make IM-MS an ideally suitable method for monitoring changes in macromolecular structure, such as those occurring in interconverting terpyridine-based metallosupramolecular self-assemblies. IM-MS is used to verify the elemental composition (size) and architecture (shape) of the self-assembled products.