A Multi-dimensional Approach Combining Hplc, Ion Mobility and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Investigating Transition Metal Complexes

A Multi-dimensional Approach Combining Hplc, Ion Mobility and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Investigating Transition Metal Complexes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Multi-dimensional Approach Combining Hplc, Ion Mobility and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Investigating Transition Metal Complexes Laura Zellner, Julian Süß, Samuel Vorbach, Uwe Monkowius, Markus Himmelsbach, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8947555/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Organometallic complexes play a central role in catalysis and medicinal chemistry, yet their analytical characterization via mass spectrometry remains challenging due to their reactivity, susceptibility to fragmentation and the resulting overlapping isotopologue patterns, especially in complex reaction mixtures. Herein, we present a high-performance liquid chromatography ion mobility mass spectrometry workflow for the separation and analysis of group-six metal complexes. Chromatographic separation was combined with variation of electrospray ionization source conditions, allowing fragmentation behavior to be tuned according to specific analytical requirements. Ion mobility spectrometry provided an additional separation dimension that enabled the determination of collision cross sections as molecular descriptors for all investigated complexes. Analysis of the ion mobility data revealed systematic, metaldependent trends consistent with expected structural differences. These correlations facilitated the assignment of the central metal even for species of low abundance or those lacking characteristic isotopologue patterns. Overall, this work demonstrates that the combination of chromatographic separation and ion mobility-based trend analysis provides a versatile platform for the characterization of organometallic species. Biological sciences/Chemical biology Physical sciences/Chemistry Drift-tube ion-mobility mass spectrometry HPLC transition metal complexes organometallics collision cross sections Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Figures are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files SupplementZellneretalMC.pdf Figures.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 12 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 11 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 10 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 26 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 25 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 23 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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