Study of field mobilities dependence and direct separation of acidic phytohormones by differential mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry

• Five acidic phytohormones were directly separated by differential mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry.
• The field mobilities dependence was measured as the normalized α function.
• Five acidic phytohormones behaved as type A ions.
• The clustering separation mechanism dominated.

The direct separation of five acidic phytohormones including auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-propionic acid, and indole-3-butyric acid), jasmonic acid, and abscisic acid by differential mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (DMS–MS) with the use of the polar gas-phase chemical modifier 2-propanol was demonstrated. The method was rapid and simple to operate with selectivity and repeatability. The influence of experimental conditions on the separation, such as modifier types and concentration, separation voltage, and temperature, was systematically investigated. The field mobilities dependence was measured as the normalized α function using the developed DMS–MS method. All the analytes behaved as type A ions and the clustering separation mechanism dominated. These results not only gave insights of ion properties but also contributed to the prediction of DMS separation by choosing targeted and appropriate conditions for the study of acidic phytohormones.

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