Different conformations of oligonucleotides can be identified using gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange in mass spectrometry.
The study shows that H/D exchange rates vary significantly with temperature, ranging from 25% at 50°C to 80% at 450°C.
Unlike previous findings, no bimodal distribution of deuterium was observed, suggesting that oligonucleotide ions rapidly change conformations in the ion formation region.