Patent ID: 7439496

Claim:
A method of detecting the presence of an analyte in an ion mobility spectrometer comprising: (a) introducing a sample comprising one or more analyte molecules into an ionization region (b) supplying an ionization reagent, wherein the ionization reagent has the formula: wherein R 1 is selected from the group consisting of straight or branched chain alkyl, straight or branched chain alkenyl, aryl, heteroaryl, carbocycle, and heterocycle, wherein R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, straight or branched chain alkyl, straight or branched chain alkenyl, aryl, heteroaryl, carbocycle, and heterocycle, and wherein the ionization reagent is not nicotinamide; (c) generating a reagent ion; (d) allowing the reagent ion to interact with the one or more analyte molecules, wherein the interaction yields one or more analyte ions; (e) introducing a sample vapor containing one or more analyte ions into a drift region; and (f) detecting the presence of the one or more analyte ions in the sample from a drift time of the analyte ion through the drift region.