Tandem mass spectrometry characteristics of polyester anions and cations formed by electrospray ionization

Electrospray ionization of polyesters composed of isophthalic acid and neopentyl glycol produces carboxylate anions in negative mode and mainly sodium ion adducts in positive mode. A tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) study of these ions in a quadrupole ion trap shows that the collisionally activated dissociation pathways of the anions are simpler than those of the corresponding cations. Charge-remote fragmentations predominate in both cases, but the spectra obtained in negative mode are devoid of the complicating cation exchange observed in positive mode. MS/MS of the Na(+) adducts gives rise to a greater number of fragments but not necessarily more structural information. In either positive or negative mode, polyester oligomers with different end groups fragment by similar mechanisms. The observed fragments are consistent with rearrangements initiated by the end groups. Single-stage ESI mass spectra also are more complex in positive mode because of extensive H/Na substitutions; this is also true for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectra. Hence, formation and analysis of anions might be the method of choice for determining block length, end group structure and copolymer sequence, provided the polyester contains at least one carboxylic acid end group that is ionizable to anions.     

Optimization of headspace sampling using solid‐phase microextraction for chloroanisoles in cork stoppers and gas chromatography–ion‐trap tandem mass spectrometric analysis

In a study aiming to characterize cork off‐flavour for quality control purposes, chloroanisoles were extracted and identified from cork stoppers by means of solid‐phase microextraction (SPME)–gas chromatography–ion‐trap mass spectrometry (GC–ITMS). An experimental design procedure was used to investigate the effects of some experimental parameters on the SPME of 2,4‐dichloroanisole, 2,6‐dichloroanisole, and 2,4,6‐trichloroanisole from cork stoppers by using a Carboxen‐PDMS 75 μm fibre. Variables such as extraction temperature, extraction time, and percentage of ethanol added to the matrix were optimized to improve extraction efficiency of chloroanisoles onto SPME fibre. Instrumental analysis was performed by GC–ITMS in the MS/MS mode. Preliminary analyses on standard solutions allowed selection of the appropriate ionization mode (i. e. electron impact or chemical ionization), providing for each analyte the highest instrumental response. In order to find polynomial functions describing the relationships between variables and responses, the analytical responses, i.e. the chromatographic peak areas, were processed by using the backward multiple regression analysis. For all the analytes the operating conditions providing the highest extraction yield inside the experimental domain considered were found.     

Sensitive analysis of metal cations in positive ion mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using commercial chelating agents and cationic ion‐pairing reagents

Metals play a very important role in many scientific and environmental fields, and thus their detection and analysis is of great necessity. A simple and very sensitive method has been developed herein for the detection of metals in positive ion mode ESI‐MS. Metal ions are positively charged, and as such they can potentially be detected in positive ion mode ESI‐MS; however, their small mass‐to‐charge (m/z) ratio makes them fall in the low‐mass region of the mass spectrum, which has the largest background noise. Therefore, their detection can become extremely difficult. A better and well‐known way to detect metals by ESI‐MS is by chelating them with complexation agents. In this study eleven different metals, Fe(II), Fe(III), Mg(II), Cu(II), Ru(III), Co(II), Ca(II), Ni(II), Mn(II), Sn(II), and Ag(I), were paired with two commercially available chelating agents: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS). Since negative ion mode ESI‐MS has many disadvantages compared to positive ion mode ESI‐MS, it would be very beneficial if these negatively charged complex ions could be detected in the positive mode. Such a method is described in this paper and it is shown to achieve much lower sensitivities. Each of the negatively charged metal complexes is paired with six cationic ion‐pairing reagents. The new positively charged ternary complexes are then analyzed by ESI‐MS in the positive single ion monitoring (SIM) and single reaction monitoring (SRM) modes. The results clearly revealed that the presence of the cationic reagents significantly improved the sensitivity for these analytes, often by several orders of magnitude. This novel method developed herein for the detection of metals improved the limits of detection (LODs) significantly when compared to negative ion mode ESI‐MS and shows great potential in future trace studies of these and many other species. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

End‐group characterization of homo‐ and copolyesters of cyclohexane‐1,4‐dimethanol

End groups after the thermal degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and its cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM) copolymer were characterized with ¹H NMR. Thermally degraded polymers were obtained by heat treatment at 290 °C. For the PET homopolymer, a vinyl end group appeared, which resulted from thermal cis‐β‐elimination. For the CHDM copolymer, in addition to a vinyl end group, methylcyclohexene and cyclovinylidene end groups originating from CHDM were formed. The assignment of the ¹H NMR spectrum was performed with information from ¹³C NMR and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. The total amounts of unsaturated species measured by NMR were compared with those estimated by bromination titration. There was good agreement between the values obtained by the two methods, indicating that all the major unsaturated species were accounted for. The mechanism of the formation of the unsaturated end groups was investigated. We suggest, on the basis of the NMR measurements, that the methylcyclohexene and cyclovinylidene groups originating from CHDM were formed by thermal cis‐β‐elimination as for the PET homopolymer. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 665–674, 2001     

Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of glyphosate,glufosinate, aminomethylphosphonic acid and methylphosphinicopropionic acid

A detailed MS(n) study of glyphosate, glufosinate and their main metabolites, aminomethylphosphonic acid and methylphosphinicopropionic acid, using an ion trap mass spectrometer, was performed. The analytes show good response in negative ion electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS) as [M-H](-) ions. Tandem-MS spectra reveal a wealth of structurally specific ions, allowing characterisation of the fragmentation pathways of the four analytes in their native form for the first time. The ions formed at each stage of fragmentation reveal ions common to each analyte, such as phosphinate, as well as analyte specific transitions. Simplex optimisation allows optimum trapping and fragmentation parameters to be determined leading to improved response for particular transitions and transition sequences, and revealing previously unseen ions.     

Structural determination of glycopeptidolipids of Mycobacterium smegmatis by high‐resolution multiple‐stage linear ion‐trap mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

Glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) are abundant in the cell walls of different species of mycobacteria and consist of tripeptide‐amino‐alcohol core of D‐Phe‐D‐allo‐Thr‐D‐Ala‐L‐alaninol linked to 3‐hydroxy or 3‐methoxy C_26–34 fatty acyl chain at the N‐terminal of D‐Phe via amide linkage, and a 6‐deoxytalose (6‐dTal) and an O‐methyl rhamnose residues, respectively, attach to D‐allo‐Thr and the terminal L‐alaninol. They are important cell‐surface antigens that are implicated in the pathogenesis of opportunistic mycobacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex. In this contribution, we described multiple‐stage linear ion trap in conjunction with high‐resolution mass spectrometry towards structural characterization of complex GPLs as [M + Na]⁺ ions isolated from Mycobacterium smegmatis, a fast‐growing and non‐pathogenic mycobacterial species. Following resonance excitation in an ion trap, MSⁿ spectra of the [M + Na]⁺ ions of GPLs contained mainly b and y series ions that readily determine the peptide sequence. Fragment ions from MSⁿ also afford locating the 6‐dTal and O‐methyl rhamnose residues linked to the D‐allo‐Thr and terminal L‐alaninol of the peptide core, respectively, as well as recognizing the modifications of the glycosides, including their acetylation and methylation states and the presence of succinyl group. The GPL families consisting of 3‐hydroxy fatty acyl and of 3‐methoxy fatty acyl substituents are readily distinguishable. The MS profiles of the GPLs from cells are dependant on the conditions they were grown, and several isobaric isomers were identified for many of the molecular species. These multiple‐stage mass spectrometric approaches give detailed structures of GPL in complex mixtures of which the isomeric structures are difficult to define using other analytical methods. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid chromatography ion trap mass spectrometric analysis of oligosaccharides using permethylated derivatives

Reversed phase liquid chromatography was combined with the multiple stage mass analysis capability of an ion trap mass spectrometer for the characterization of permethylated oligosaccharide mixtures. The new method was used to separate the components of an unlabeled permethylated maltooligomer ladder, a 2-aminobenzamide-labeled (2-AB) maltooligomer ladder, a complex mixture of 2AB-labeled bi- (B), tri- (T), and tetraantennary (Q) standards, and a mixture of recombinant glycoprotein carbohydrates from soluble CD4 with varying sialic acid (S) content. Using reversed phase HPLC, permethylated mixture components including alpha and beta anomers were separated based on their structures. Fluorescent labeling with 2-aminobenzamide prior to permethylation was employed for off-line method development, but was not necessarily required for mass spectral analysis, as permethylation alone improved the ionization and fragmentation characteristics of the molecules. Antennae composition of permethylated derivatives was determined in MS(2) where the fragmentation patterns of the Y- and B-ion series predominated, and then further evaluated in MS(3), which provided additional information on branching obtained from A and X cross-ring fragmentation.     

Structural elucidation of diglycosyl diacylglycerol and monoglycosyl diacylglycerol from Streptococcus pneumoniae by multiple‐stage linear ion‐trap mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

The cell wall of the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae contains glucopyranosyl diacylglycerol (GlcDAG) and galactoglucopyranosyldiacylglycerol (GalGlcDAG). The specific GlcDAG consisting of vaccenic acid substituent at sn‐2 was recently identified as another glycolipid antigen family recognized by invariant natural killer T‐cells. Here, we describe a linear ion‐trap multiple‐stage (MSⁿ) mass spectrometric approach towards structural analysis of GalGlcDAG and GlcDAG. Structural information derived from MSⁿ (n = 2, 3) on the [M + Li]⁺ adduct ions desorbed by electrospray ionization affords identification of the fatty acid substituents, assignment of the fatty acyl groups on the glycerol backbone, as well as the location of double bond along the fatty acyl chain. The identification of the fatty acyl groups and determination of their regio‐specificity were confirmed by MSⁿ (n = 2, 3) on the [M + NH₄]⁺ ions. We establish the structures of GalGlcDAG and GlcDAG isolated from S. pneumoniae, in which the major species consists of a 16:1‐ or 18:1‐fatty acid substituent mainly at sn‐2, and the double bond of the fatty acid is located at ω‐7 (n‐7). More than one isomers were found for each mass in the family. This mass spectrometric approach provides a simple method to achieve structure identification of this important lipid family that would be very difficult to define using the traditional method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid analysis of ricin using hot acid digestion and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry

Ricin is a protein toxin of considerable interest in forensics. A novel strategy is reported here for rapid detection of ricin based on microwave‐assisted hot acid digestion and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Ricin samples are subjected to aspartate‐selective hydrolysis, and biomarker peptide products are characterized by mass spectrometry. Spectra are obtained using post source decay and searched against a protein database. Several advantages are offered by chemical hydrolysis, relative to enzymatic hydrolysis, notably speed, robustness, and the production of heavier biomarkers. Agglutinin contamination is reliably recognized, as is the disulfide bond strongly characteristic of ricin.     

Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of novel peptide‐modified gemini surfactants used as gene delivery vectors

Diquaternary ammonium gemini surfactants have emerged as effective gene delivery vectors. A novel series of 11 peptide‐modified compounds was synthesized, showing promising results in delivering genetic materials. The purpose of this work is to elucidate the tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) dissociation behavior of these novel molecules establishing a generalized MS/MS fingerprint. Exact mass measurements were achieved using a hybrid quadrupole orthogonal time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer, and a multi‐stage MS/MS analysis was conducted using a triple quadrupole‐linear ion trap mass spectrometer. Both instruments were operated in the positive ionization mode and are equipped with electrospray ionization. Abundant triply charged [M+H]³⁺ species were observed in the single‐stage analysis of all the evaluated compounds with mass accuracies of less than 8 ppm in mass error. MS/MS analysis showed that the evaluated gemini surfactants exhibited peptide‐related dissociation characteristics because of the presence of amino acids within the compounds' spacer region. In particular, diagnostic product ions were originated from the neutral loss of ammonia from the amino acids' side chain resulting in the formation of pipecolic acid at the N‐terminus part of the gemini surfactants. In addition, a charge‐directed amide bond cleavage was initiated by the amino acids' side chain producing a protonated α‐amino‐ε‐caprolactam ion and its complimentary C‐terminus ion that contains quaternary amines. MS/MS and MS³ analysis revealed common fragmentation behavior among all tested compounds, resulting in the production of a universal MS/MS fragmentation pathway. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cocrystallization of adamantane‐1,3‐dicarboxylic acid and 4,4′‐bipyridine

The cocrystallization of adamantane‐1,3‐dicarboxylic acid (adc) and 4,4′‐bipyridine (4,4′‐bpy) yields a unique 1:1 cocrystal, C₁₂H₁₆O₄·C₁₀H₈N₂, in the C2/c space group, with half of each molecule in the asymmetric unit. The mid‐point of the central C—C bond of the 4,4′‐bpy molecule rests on a center of inversion, while the adc molecule straddles a twofold rotation axis that passes through two of the adamantyl C atoms. The constituents of this cocrystal are joined by hydrogen bonds, the stronger of which are O—H...N hydrogen bonds [O...N = 2.6801 (17) Å] and the weaker of which are C—H...O hydrogen bonds [C...O = 3.367 (2) Å]. Alternate adc and 4,4′‐bpy molecules engage in these hydrogen bonds to form zigzag chains. In turn, these chains are linked through π–π interactions along the c axis to generate two‐dimensional layers. These layers are neatly packed into a stable crystalline three‐dimensional form via weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds [C...O = 3.2744 (19) Å] and van der Waals attractions.