“…The problem has been approached in different ways, some more successful than others, depending on the nature of the precursor ions. Use of differences in fragmentation patterns after collision-induced dissociation (CID) is still the most common and well-studied approach. − ,− ,, Other techniques exploit differences in physical properties of isomeric ions: migration rates of ions through a neutral gas (ion mobility spectrometry), , reactivities of ions, , charge exchange MS, , direct photon absorption or emission, , variable wavelength photodissociation in the infrared, − visible or ultraviolet with one or more , lasers, differences in photodissociation by rapid pulse shaping over an approximate Gaussian wavelength distribution centered at 800 nm, , and relatively high-resolution spectroscopy in cold traps. , In cases relying on dissociation of a precursor ion, the mass spectra may be too similar to assign particular isomers from the product ion ratios with confidence. This can occur for several reasons: (1) product ion ratios frequently differ somewhat among different instruments; (2) product ion ratios can vary somewhat using the same instrument under supposedly identical conditions; (3) methods of processing digitized spectral data vary, and at least some error is introduced in quantitation of spectral peaks depending on the processing method; (4) white noise is present to varying extents; and (5) a proper statistical evaluation of data is often not performed.…”