Self-assembly

Chemical physics

Materials science

Chromatography

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Crystallization

Template

Mathematics

Characterization (materials science)

Selected reaction monitoring

Analytical Chemistry (journal)

Combinatorics

Crystallography

Mass spectrometry

Chemistry

Topology (electrical circuits)

Ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry

Ion-mobility spectrometry

Tandem mass spectrometry

Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry

Coordination-driven self-assembly (CDSA) is increasingly used to synthesize coordination complexes containing metal-centered electron acceptors and typically nitrogen-containing electron donors. Characterization of the structures obtained from CDSA via crystallographic or spectroscopic means is limited due to difficulties in forming single crystals for X-ray studies and overlapping precursor and product signals in NMR. Here, we employ ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), which provides a direct measure of size and shape of the CDSA complexes, to study the intact reaction products of a rhomboid-shaped complex. This approach negates the need for product isolation and crystallization and allows for tracking of the product distribution as a function of time. A potential challenge of IM-MS is that the size/shape of the observed CDSA complexes can vary with internal energy; however, we show that proper tuning of the instrument reduces the effects of collisional activation thereby allowing for retention of ion conformations that reflect solution-phase ion structures. Graphical Abstract.

Topological Characterization of Coordination-Driven Self-assembly Complexes: Applications of Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry