Isomer-Specific Two-Color Double-Resonance IR ²MS ³ Ion Spectroscopy Using a Single Laser: Application in the Identification of Novel Psychoactive Substances

Abstract

The capability of an ion trap mass spectrometer to store ions for an arbitrary amount of time allows the use of a single infrared (IR) laser to perform two-color double resonance IR–IR spectroscopic experiments on mass-to-charge ( m/ z) selected ions. In this single-laser IR ²MS ³ scheme, one IR laser frequency is used to remove a selected set of isomers from the total trapped ion population and the second IR laser frequency, from the same laser, is used to record the IR spectrum of the remaining precursor ions. This yields isomer-specific vibrational spectra of the m/ z-selected ions, which can reveal the structure and identity of the initially co-isolated isomeric species. The use of a single laser greatly reduces the experimental complexity of two-color IR ²MS ³ and enhances its application in fields employing analytical MS. In this work, we demonstrate the methodology by acquiring single-laser IR ²MS ³ spectra in a forensic context, identifying two previously unidentified isomeric novel psychoactive substances (NPS) from a sample that was confiscated by the Amsterdam Police.