2017-18 John B. Fenn lecture

"The Path from Electrospray Ionization to Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations and the Basis for a Gas Phase Ion Chemistry Workbench"

Richard D. Smith
Chief Scientist
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA

March 22, 2018
5:30 p.m.
Academic Learning Commons

John Fenn’s development of electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has led to profound changes in the roles and utility of MS, and changes that continue to enable new developments and applications. In this presentation I will give a personal perspective on how Fenn’s development of ESI-MS influenced one young scientist in the mid-1980’s, and how this continues to play out in my current research involving the development of Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM). I will describe how SLIM in conjunction with ESI-MS can address many current challenges for MS, and also provide novel capabilities. The new developments based upon SLIM include their use for gas phase ultra-high resolution ion mobility separations that enable previously problematic analyses. I will conclude with a brief discussion of their broad potential as the basis for a flexible gas phase ion chemistry workbench.