Combining energy-dependent electrospray ionisation with tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of inorganic compounds

The recently developed technique of energy-dependent electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (EDESI-MS) has been implemented on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer such that fragmentation occurs in the collision cell rather than at the skimmer cone. This modification enables a superior two-dimensional map of the collision voltage versus mass-to-charge ratio to be generated, providing unambiguous peak assignments, This latest enhancement to the technique is referred to as energy-dependent electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (EDESI-MS/MS). In the present work the technique has been applied to investigate the sequential removal of ligands from the inorganic mixed-metal anionic cluster compound [RU5CoC(CO)(16)](-), which serves to illustrate the advantages of this approach. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.