Separation of mycolic acid isomers by cyclic ion mobility‐mass spectrometry

Mycolic acids (MA) isomers from G. amarae and M. bovis were resolved, resulting in a high mobility resolution and low interference fragmentation analysis. These revealed varying patterns of MA isomers in the two species: G. amarae's most abundant ion of each set of MA has 1-2 conformations, while the MA + 2 m/z the most abundant ion of each set has 3-6 conformations. These were resolved after 70 passes of the cyclic device. M. bovis' most abundant ion of each keto-MA set has 2 conformations, while the keto-MA + 2 m/z has 1-2 conformations. These were resolved after 75 passes.