Separation,Quantification and Structural Study of (+)‐Catechin and (–)‐Epicatechin by Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Combined with Theoretical Algorithms

Two catechin epimers and their non‐covalent complexes with γ‐cyclodextrin were studied by using ion mobility coupled with mass spectrometry (IM‐MS). Rapid separation of complexes was achieved with the peak‐to‐peak resolution reaching 0.86 after optimization of IM condition. Collision cross section (CCS) was measured to explore the structural difference of complexes. A gap of 11.75 Ų between two complexes was found. Molecular modeling and theoretical CCS calculation were adopted to explain the measurement results. Two binding ways of both complexes were found and the calculated CCS corresponds accurately to the measured CCS. Quantification of catechins in mixtures was performed and the relative error was less than 15%, indicating the effectiveness of quantification by IM‐MS.     

Characterization of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD‐1) by electrospray ionization‐ion mobility mass spectrometry

In this paper, we report nano‐electrospray ionization‐ion mobility mass spectrometry (nano‐ESI‐IM‐MS) characterization of bovine superoxide dismutase (SOD‐1) and human SOD‐1 purified from erythrocytes. SOD‐1 aggregates are characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease in humans that could be triggered by dissociation of the native dimeric enzyme (Cu₂,Zn₂‐dimer SOD‐1). In contrast to ESI‐MS, nano‐ESI‐IM‐MS allowed an extra dimension for ion separation, yielding three‐way mass spectra (drift time, mass‐to‐charge ratio and intensity). Drift time provided valuable structural information related to ion size, which proved useful to differentiate between the dimeric and monomeric forms of SOD‐1 under non denaturing conditions. In order to obtain detailed structural information, including the most relevant post‐translational modifications, we evaluated several parameters of the IM method, such as sample composition (10 mM ammonium acetate, pH 7) and activation voltages (trap collision energy and cone voltage). Neutral pH and a careful selection of the most appropriate activation voltages were necessary to minimize dimer dissociation, although human enzyme resulted less prone to dissociation. Under optimum conditions, a comparison between monomer‐to‐dimer abundance ratios of two small sets of blood samples from healthy control and ALS patients demonstrated the presence of a higher relative abundance of Cu,Zn‐monomer SOD‐1 in patient samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Direct analysis of pharmaceutical formulations from non‐bonded reversed‐phase thin‐layer chromatography plates by desorption electrospray ionisation ion mobility mass spectrometry

The direct analysis of pharmaceutical formulations and active ingredients from non‐bonded reversed‐phase thin layer chromatography (RP‐TLC) plates by desorption electrospray ionisation (DESI) combined with ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM‐MS) is reported. The analysis of formulations containing analgesic (paracetamol), decongestant (ephedrine), opiate (codeine) and stimulant (caffeine) active pharmaceutical ingredients is described, with and without chromatographic development to separate the active ingredients from the excipient formulation. Selectivity was enhanced by combining ion mobility and mass spectrometry to characterise the desorbed gas‐phase analyte ions on the basis of mass‐to‐charge ratio (m/z) and gas‐phase ion mobility (drift time). The solvent composition of the DESI spray using a step gradient was varied to optimise the desorption of active pharmaceutical ingredients from the RP‐TLC plates. The combined RP‐TLC/DESI‐IM‐MS approach has potential as a rapid and selective technique for pharmaceutical analysis by orthogonal gas‐phase electrophoretic and mass‐to‐charge separation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a comprehensive two-dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry system and its application in separation and identification of saponins from Quillaja saponaria

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was used in two dimensions in a comprehensive two-dimensional HILIC hyphenated with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HILICxHILIC-Q-TOF-MS) system for the analysis of complex samples of hydrophilic compounds. A TSKgel Amide-80 column was employed as the first dimension, and a short PolyHydroxyethyl A column was as the second dimension. The column system showed moderate orthogonality at defined operational conditions. A high speed Q-TOF-MS detector as a third complementary dimension significantly improved the peak capacity. The separation capability of the developed HILICxHILIC-Q-TOF-MS system was tested by separating an extract from Quillaja saponaria. The major components, quillaja saponins, in the extract were well identified by means of [M-H](-) ions, characteristic product ions, and their two-dimensional retention behaviors. Several pairs of isomers, which were often co-eluted on conventional LC-MS methods and had similar fragmentation characteristics in MS/MS spectra, were well separated on the two-dimensional system based on their different hydrophilicity. The developed comprehensive two-dimensional HILIC system demonstrates unique selectivity for hydrophilic compounds and satisfactory peak capacity and resolution for analogues by making sufficient use of two-dimensional separation plane.     

High performance collision cross section calculation—HPCCS

Since the commercial introduction of Ion Mobility coupled with Mass Spectrometry (IM‐MS) devices in 2003, a large number of research laboratories have embraced the technique. IM‐MS is a fairly rapid experiment used as a molecular separation tool and to obtain structural information. The interpretation of IM‐MS data is still challenging and relies heavily on theoretical calculations of the molecule's collision cross section (CCS) against a buffer gas. Here, a new software (HPCCS ) is presented, which performs CCS calculations using high perfomance computing techniques. Based on the trajectory method, HPCCS can accurately calculate CCS for a great variety of molecules, ranging from small organic molecules to large protein complexes, using helium or nitrogen as buffer gas with considerable gains in computer time compared to publicly available codes under the same level of theory. HPCCS is available as free software under the Academic Use License at https://github.com/cepid-cces/hpccs . © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Simultaneous determination of three anticon‐vulsants using hydrophilic interaction LC‐MS

A specific and automated method was developed to quantify the anticonvulsants gabapentin, pregabalin and vigabatrin simultaneously in human serum. Samples were prepared with a protein precipitation. The hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) with a mobile phase gradient was used to divide off ions of the matrix and for separation of the analytes. Four different HILIC‐columns and two different column temperatures were tested. The Tosoh‐Amid column gave the best results: single small peaks. The anticonvulsants were detected in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) with ESI‐MS‐MS. Using a volume of 100 μL biological sample the lowest point of the standard curve, i.e. the lower LOQs were 312 ng/mL. The described HILIC‐MS‐MS method is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring and for clinical and pharmcokinetical investigations of the anticonvulsives.     

Performance of zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction LC for the determination of iodinated X‐ray contrast agents

This study compares the separation performance of a group of iodinated X‐ray contrast media on four different columns. The first three were two stationary phases (SPs) modified with C₁₈ and a polar‐embedded SP (polar amide group bonded to an alkyl chain), all of which worked under RP‐LC mode. The fourth was a zwitterionic sulphoalkylbetaine SP, working under the hydrophilic interaction LC (HILIC) mode. After the optimisation of the different parameters, the zwitterionic column displayed the best separation, which also overcomes the problems encountered when these analytes were separated under RP‐LC. Moreover, when HILIC is coupled to MS/MS, sensitivity is enhanced. However, when sewage samples were analysed by SPE followed by the optimal HILIC–MS/MS, the sensitivity of the method was affected due to the high matrix effect, which had to be solved by dilution of the extract. Finally, the method was preliminarily validated with sewage and the figures of merit were comparable to those of the SPE–RP‐LC–MS/MS.     

Determination of Antiviral Drugs and Their Metabolites Using Micro-Solid Phase Extraction and UHPLC-MS/MS in Reversed-Phase and Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography Modes

Two new ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) methods for analyzing 21 selected antivirals and their metabolites were optimized, including sample preparation step, LC separation conditions, and tandem mass spectrometry detection. Micro-solid phase extraction in pipette tips was used to extract antivirals from the biological material of Hanks balanced salt medium of pH 7.4 and 6.5. These media were used in experiments to evaluate the membrane transport of antiviral drugs. Challenging diversity of physicochemical properties was overcome using combined sorbent composed of C₁₈ and ion exchange moiety, which finally allowed to cover the whole range of tested antivirals. For separation, reversed-phase (RP) chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), were optimized using extensive screening of stationary and mobile phase combinations. Optimized RP-UHPLC separation was carried out using BEH Shield RP18 stationary phase and gradient elution with 25 mmol/L formic acid in acetonitrile and in water. HILIC separation was accomplished with a Cortecs HILIC column and gradient elution with 25 mmol/L ammonium formate pH 3 and acetonitrile. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) conditions were optimized in both chromatographic modes, but obtained results revealed only a little difference in parameters of capillary voltage and cone voltage. While RP-UHPLC-MS/MS exhibited superior separation selectivity, HILIC-UHPLC-MS/MS has shown substantially higher sensitivity of two orders of magnitude for many compounds. Method validation results indicated that HILIC mode was more suitable for multianalyte methods. Despite better separation selectivity achieved in RP-UHPLC-MS/MS, the matrix effects were noticed while using both chromatographic modes leading to signal enhancement in RP and signal suppression in HILIC.     

Characterizing ion mobility and collision cross section of fatty acids using electrospray ion mobility mass spectrometry

This study investigated the ion mobility (IM) and the collision cross section (CCS) of fatty acids (FAs) using electrospray IM MS. The IM analysis of 18 FA ions showed intriguing differences among the saturated FAs, monounsaturated FAs, multi‐unsaturated FAs, and cis‐isomer/trans‐isomer with respect to the aliphatic tail chains. The length of aliphatic tail chain present in the ion structures had a strong influence on the differentiation of drift, while the number of double bond showed a weaker influence. The tiny drift differences between cis‐isomer and trans‐isomer were also observed. In the CCS measurements, two internal standards were involved in the mobility calibration and accuracy estimation. It insured our empirical CCS values were of high experimental precision (±0.35% or better) and accuracy (±0.25% or better). Moreover, the mass‐to‐charge ratio (m/z) – mobility plots obtained by ion mobility spectrometry with mass spectrometry analysis of FAs – was used to investigate the structural relationship between the molecules. Each series of FAs sharing a similar structure was aligned in the linear plot. Finally, the developed procedure was applied to the determination of FAs in rat adipose tissues, and it allowed the presence of 13 FAs to be confirmed with their exact masses and CCS values. These studies reveal the direct relationship between the behaviors in IM and the molecular structures and thus may provide further validations to the FA identification process. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The multiple conformational charge states of zinc(II) coordination by 2His‐2Cys oligopeptide investigated by ion mobility‐mass spectrometry,density functional theory and theoretical collision cross sections

Whether traveling wave ion mobility‐mass spectrometry (IM‐MS), B3LYP/LanL2DZ density functional theory, and ion size scaled Lennard‐Jones (LJ) collision cross sections (CCS) from the B3LYP optimized structures could be used to determine the type of Zn(II) coordination by the oligopeptide acetyl‐His₁‐Cys₂‐Gly₃‐Pro₄‐Tyr₅‐His₆‐Cys₇ (amb₅) was investigated. The IM‐MS analyses of a pH titration of molar equivalents of Zn(II):amb₅ showed that both negatively and positively charged complexes formed and coordination of Zn(II) increased as the His and Cys deprotonated near their pKa values. The B3LYP method was used to generate a series of alternative coordination structures to compare with the experimental results. The method predicted that the single negatively charged complex coordinated Zn(II) in a distorted tetrahedral geometry via the 2His‐2Cys substituent groups, whereas, the double negatively charged and positively charged complexes coordinated Zn(II) via His, carbonyl oxygens and the C‐terminus. The CCS of the B3LYP complexes were calculated using the LJ method and compared with those measured by IM‐MS for the various charge state complexes. The LJ method provided CCS that agreed with five of the alternative distorted tetrahedral and trigonal bipyramidal coordinations for the doubly charged complexes, but provided CCS that were 15 to 31 Ų larger than those measured by IM‐MS for the singly charged complexes. Collision‐induced dissociation of the Zn(II) complexes and a further pH titration study of amb_5B, which included amidation of the C‐terminus, suggested that the 2His‐2Cys coordination was more significant than coordinations that included the C‐terminus. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Separation with zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography improves protein identification by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐based proteomic analysis

Comprehensive proteomic analyses necessitate efficient separation of peptide mixtures for the subsequent identification of proteins by mass spectrometry (MS). However, digestion of proteins extracted from cells and tissues often yields complex peptide mixtures that confound direct comprehensive MS analysis. This study investigated a zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (ZIC‐HILIC) technique for the peptide separation step, which was verified by subsequent MS analysis. Human serum albumin (HSA) was the model protein used for this analysis. HSA was digested with trypsin and resolved by ZIC‐HILIC or conventional strong cation exchange (SCX) prior to MS analysis for peptide identification. Separation with ZIC‐HILIC significantly improved the identification of HSA peptides over SCX chromatography. Detailed analyses of the identified peptides revealed that the ZIC‐HILIC has better peptide fractionation ability. We further demonstrated that ZIC‐HILIC is useful for quantitatively surveying cell surface markers specifically expressed in undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. These results suggested the value of ZIC‐HILIC as a novel and efficient separation method for comprehensive and quantitative proteomic analyses. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of urinary nucleosides. I. Optimisation of high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry

In order to optimise the analysis of urinary nucleosides by high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS), the HPLC separation of these compounds was performed at different 'flow rates' and 0.2mL/min was found to give both a better separation and ionisation. The ionisation conditions were optimised to give the best intensity of the molecules quasi-molecular ions. The ion distribution profile and ionisation in both positive and negative mode were examined and the detection of the protonated molecule in positive mode chosen for further analysis. The limits of detection of the method developed are reported and representative LC/MS and LC/MS/MS spectra shown. Typical urinary nucleoside chromatograms are presented.     

Development of orthogonal two‐dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography systems with the introduction of novel stationary phases

Two different offline 2‐D hydrophilic interaction chromatography (2D‐HILIC/HILIC) systems have been developed. In the two systems, a click maltose column was used in the first dimension, an amide column or a click β‐CD column was used in the second dimension, respectively. Both of the systems were used for the analysis of very polar components in Carthamus tinctorius Linn., which is a traditional Chinese medicine. Excellent orthogonality and separation results were obtained in both 2D‐HILIC/HILIC systems, while the peak capacity of the system based on click maltose and amide column was higher for its adoption of stationary phase with smaller particle size in the second dimension.     

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry analysis of carbohydrate-related metabolites from Arabidopsis thaliana leaf tissue

This work describes the development and application of an on-line liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) coupled to negative ion mode electrospray ionisation ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for the analysis of highly polar carbohydrate-related metabolites commonly found in plants, ranging from reducing and non-reducing sugars and sugar alcohols to sugar phosphates. Using this method, separation and detection of a mixture of eight authentic standard compounds containing glucose (Glc), sucrose (Suc), raffinose, verbascose, mannitol, maltitol, glucose-6-phosphate (Glc6P) and trehalose-6-phosphate (Tre6P) were achieved in less than 15 min. The method is rapid, robust, selective, and sensitive, with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.2 microM obtained for neutral sugars, to 1.0 microM obtained for sugar alcohols, and 2.0 microM obtained for negatively charged sugar phosphates. We have studied the negative ion collision-induced dissociation (CID) fragmentation behaviour of the non-reducing raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose. Mainly Bi and Ci glycosidic and Ai cross-ring structurally informative cleavages are observed. We have applied this HILIC/ESI-MS method for the analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type Columbia-0 (Col-0) and its starchless phosphoglucomutase mutant (pgm1) leaf extracts. The method was used to quantify Glc, Suc, raffinose, and Glc6P in A. thaliana extracts. Data obtained using this HILIC/ESI-MS method were compared with those obtained using a comparable porous graphitic carbon-based LC/ESI-MS method.     

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of dasatinib,imatinib and nilotinib in mouse plasma

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) interfaced with atmospheric pressure ionization (API) sources and a tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of dasatinib, imatinib and nilotinib in mouse plasma samples. The retention profiles of all analytes on several silica stationary phases under HILIC conditions were explored. The influences of experimental factors such as the compositions of mobile phases on the chromatographic performance and the ionization efficiency of all analytes in positive ion mode were investigated. The applicability of the proposed HILIC/MS/MS approach following a protein precipitation procedure for the quantitative determination of dasatinib, imatinib and nilotinib at low nano‐mole levels was examined with respect to assay specificity and linearity. The analytical results obtained by various HILIC/MS/MS approaches were found to be in good agreement with those obtained by reversed‐phase liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (RPLC/MS/MS) methods in terms of assay sample throughputs, sensitivity and accuracy. Furthermore, the potential of matrix ionization suppression on the proposed HILIC/MS/MS systems was investigated using the post‐column infusion technique. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ion‐pairing high‐performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry of impurities and reduction products of sulphonated azodyes

An HPLC separation method with triethylammonium acetate mobile phase additive developed for the analysis of impurities in polysulphonated azo dyes provides good separation selectivity and compatibility with electrospray ionisation (ESI) mass spectrometry. The negative‐ion ESI mass spectra containing only peaks of deprotonated molecules [M–H]^– for monosulphonic acids, [M–xH]^x–, and sodiated adducts [M–(x + y)H + yNa]^x– for polysulphonic acids allow easy molecular mass determination of unknown impurities. Based on the knowledge of the molecular masses and of the fragment ions in the MS/MS spectra, probable structures of trace impurities in commercial dye samples are proposed. To assist in the interpretation of the mass spectra of complex polysulphonated azodyes, additional information can be obtained after chemical reduction of azodyes to aromatic amines. The structures of the non‐sulphonated reduction products can be determined by reversed‐phase HPLC/MS with positive‐ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation and of the sulphonated products by ion‐pairing HPLC/MS with negative‐ion ESI.     

Structure elucidation of highly polar basic degradants by on-line hydrogen/deuterium exchange hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method was used to separate a commonly used pharmaceutical starting material, 4-aminomethylpyridine (4-AMP), and its degradants. The structures of the major degradants were characterized and elucidated without prior isolation by accurate mass measurement, MS/MS analysis and on-line hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange experiments. The mass spectra obtained from H/D exchange experiments are particularly useful to differentiate structural isomers, to elucidate the fragmentation pathways, and to aid in structure elucidation in the absence of MS/MS fragmentation information. The impact of deuterium oxide and temperature on HILIC separation has also been explored here. The integration of H/D exchange with HILIC has been described here for the first time and has been demonstrated to be a powerful structure elucidation tool via the study of degradants in 4-AMP.     

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of three polar non‐structurally related compounds,imipenem, cilastatin and an investigational β‐lactamase inhibitor,MK‐4698, in biological matrices

A method coupling hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been developed for the simultaneous determination of three polar non‐structurally related compounds – a carbapenem antibiotic, imipenem (IMP), a renal dehydropeptidase inhibitor, cilastatin (CIL), and an investigational β‐lactamase inhibitor, MK‐4698 (BLI), in rat plasma, monkey plasma and mouse blood. The analytes were extracted through protein precipitation, chromatographed on a Waters Atlantis HILIC column, and detected on a Sciex API4000 mass spectrometer using a Turbo‐Ion Spray ion source in positive ionization mode following multiple‐reaction monitoring (MRM). The assay dynamic range was 0.1–100 µg/mL for IMP, CIL and BLI, respectively, using a total of 20–25 µL biologic samples, and the total HPLC/MS/MS run time was 4 min/injection. The assay was found to be sensitive, selective and reproducible. The challenges, namely, sample stability, blood sample processing, matrix effect in monkey study samples, and dilution re‐assays for the limited mouse blood samples, are resolved and discussed. This technique allowed rapid analysis of polar compounds in biologic matrixes with satisfactory chromatographic retention and increased throughput. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

IMSPeptider: A computational peptide collision cross‐section area calculator based on a novel molecular dynamics simulation protocol

Introduction of ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMS/MS) into the proteomic workflow provides an orthogonal separation to the widely used LC‐MS platforms. IMS also provides structural information that could facilitate peptide identification. However, the lack of tools capable of predictive power in a high‐throughput fashion makes peptide global profiling quite challenging. To target this issue, a computational workflow was developed based on biophysical principles to predict the collision cross‐section area (CCS) of peptides as measured from IMS/MS experiments. Hosted on a web server, it allows the user to input a primary sequence (query) and retrieve information on peptide structure, sequence, and corresponding CCS. The current version is designed to identify peptide sequences up to 23 residues in length, in its higher charge state, based on a match of the molecule m/z and CCS. The protocol was validated against a 128‐sequences‐dataset and CCS predicted within 2.8% average error. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Comparison of HILIC columns for residue analysis of dithiocarbamate fungicides

Selective determination of dithiocarbamate (DTC) fungicides is mainly performed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). According to Crnogorac and Schwack, DTC analyses by HILIC only lead to meaningful results with a zwitterionic polymer-based hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (ZIC-pHILIC) column. Considering the limited availability of this special type of column and the importance of DTC residue analysis, several new HILIC columns were evaluated as alternatives to the ZIC-pHILIC column. Detection was carried out by ultraviolet light and by mass spectrometry (MS) on a single quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled to an electrospray ionization interface operating in negative mode. On nearly all tested columns, separation of dimethyldithiocarbamates, ethylenebis(dithiocarbamates), and propylenebis(dithiocarbamates) was achieved with ammonium acetate eluents (pH 6.8). However, due to ion suppression by the buffer and the limited alkaline pH stability, the tested silica-based columns were not suitable for the sensitive analysis of DTCs. The polymer-based iHILIC-Fusion was the only alternative that offered high MS sensitivity, when a buffer containing 15?mM aqueous ammonium hydroxide and 7.5?mM ammonium hydrogen carbonate (pH 9.8) was used, but the separation of the three DTC subclasses was poor. Thus, considering both selectivity and sensitivity, the originally proposed polymer-based ZIC-pHILIC column still outperformed all the tested newly available alternative HILIC columns.