CAREER: Transforming Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry-Based Isotopic Shifts Across Molecular Classes for Isomer Identification

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Nagy's group at the University of Utah is developing new methods to characterize isomers, molecules which share the same molecular weight, based on their isotopic shifts using advanced ion mobility separations and mass spectrometry. Specifically, the Nagy group is working to introduce new ways in which molecules across varying classes can be modified to enhance their isotopic shifts based on changes in their moments of inertia and center of mass. Through interactions with both industry and other academic groups, research results will be disseminated and enable interlaboratory validation. Individuals and their families in the Salt Lake City area will benefit from the deployment of the education plan and thus increase their exposure to STEM. This research focuses on developing new methods to transform mass distribution-based isotopic shifts as a new dimension for the characterization of isomers with high-resolution ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry. This proposed research will focus on assessing and implementing the use of isotopic shifts for the delineation of complete sets of small molecule isomers, developing theoretical models to better understand the physical basis of these shifts, and also introduce new derivatization strategies to expand isotopic shifts to larger molecular classes such as proteins. This research also includes an education plan to increase STEM involvement and expose our next generation to STEM at a younger age. The overall focus of this plan is to design a simple ion mobility separations experiment and implement/deploy it at the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. This education plan will enable the Nagy group to provide younger children and their parents/guardians access to STEM. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.