The application of ion mobility mass spectrometry to metabolomics

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics is being increasingly utilized in various research fields including investigating human diseases, nutrition, industrial applications, and plant/natural products studies. Although new analytical approaches have enhanced the performance of metabolomic analyses, significant challenges associated with throughput, metabolome coverage, and compound identification still exist. Ion mobility mass spectrometry offers great potential for improving throughput and depth of coverage in metabolomics experiments. For example, multi-dimensional, structural resolution offered by ion mobility enables improved identification of metabolites and chemical classes. This mini-review discusses the advantages, recent developments and limitations of using ion mobility mass spectrometry as part of a metabolomics workflow.