Identification of impurities in polymyxin B and colistin bulk sample using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) describes liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) methods using C₁₈ stationary phases for the analysis of polymyxin B and colistin.Several unknown impurities were detected in commercial samples of those polypeptide complexes. However, the Ph. Eur. does not specify any related substances for polymyxin B and colistin. Since both methods use non-volatile buffers, the mobile phases were incompatible with mass spectrometry (MS). For the identification of related substances in bulk samples by LC/MS, volatile mobile phase systems were developed. However, the LC/MS methods (with volatile additives) showed inferior chromatographic separation compared to the LC-UV method (with non-volatile additives). Moreover, previously identified impurities by LC/MS could not be assigned in LC-UV methods as the separation in both systems was different.In this study, known impurities were traced in the LC-UV methods and new impurities present in polymyxin B and colistin bulk samples were characterized. To achieve this, each peak from the non-volatile system was collected separately and reinjected into an LC system with a volatile mobile phase coupled to MS. This way, collected impurity peaks were rechromatographed on a reversed phase column in order to separate the analyte from the buffer salts. Using this method, out of 39 peaks, five novel related substances were characterized in a polymyxin B bulk sample. Fourteen impurities, which were already reported in the literature were traced as good as possible in the LC-UV method. In the case of colistin, a total of 36 peaks were investigated, among which four new compounds. Additionally, 30 known impurities were traced in the LC-UV method.     

Characterization of dihydrostreptomycin‐related substances by liquid chromatography coupled to ion trap mass spectrometry

Dihydrostreptomycin sulphate (DHS) is a water‐soluble, broad‐spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic. For quantitative analysis, the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) prescribes an ion‐pairing liquid chromatography/ultraviolet (LC/UV) method using a C18 stationary phase. Several unknown compounds were detected in commercial samples. Hence, for characterization of these unknown peaks in a commercial DHS sample, the Ph. Eur. method was coupled to mass spectrometry (MS). However, since the Ph. Eur. method uses a non‐volatile mobile phase, each peak eluted was collected and desalted before introduction into the mass spectrometer. The desalting procedure was applied to remove the non volatile salt, buffer and ion‐pairing reagent in the collected fraction. In total, 20 impurities were studied and 14 of them were newly characterized. Five impurities which are already reported in the literature were also traced in this LC/UV method. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experience with routine applications of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the pharmaceutical industry

The combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been established to complement gas chromatography (GC)-MS in the analysis of non-volatile and labile drugs in complex materials. The possibilities of LC-MS in the pharmaceutical industry for the analysis of drug substances and dosage forms, metabolism studies and the elucidation of the structures of materials of biological origin are discussed. Instrumental requirements, limitations and applications of LC-MS are considered and experiences with LC-MS in routine applications are reported. Preliminary results obtained with thermospray LC-MS are compared with those using a direct liquid inlet interface.     

Capillary liquid chromatography/atmospheric-pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation ion trap mass spectrometry: a comparison with liquid chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation quadrupole time-of-flight for the identification of tryptic peptides

The atmospheric-pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation quadrupole ion trap (AP-MALDI-QIT) analysis of tryptic peptides is reported following capillary liquid chromatographic (LC) separation and direct analysis of a protein digest. Peptide fragments were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting from mass spectrometric data and sequence analysis obtained by tandem mass spectrometry of the principal mass spectral peaks using a data-dependent scanning protocol. These data were compared with those from mass spectrometric analysis using capillary LC/MALDI-time-of-flight (TOF) and capillary LC/electrospray ionisation (ESI)-quadrupole TOF. For all three configurations the resulting data were searched against the MSDB database, using MASCOT and the sequence coverage compared for each technique. Complementary data were obtained using the three techniques.     

Evaluation of the potential of thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in neurochemistry

Optimized operating conditions previously developed for the determination of neuroactive indoleamines and metabolites were adapted to meet the requirements of thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in terms of the ammonium acetate buffer system needed in this technique. Mass spectra were obtained for nineteen indolic compounds in both the positive and negative ion modes. The positive thermospray mass spectra of indoles with a free primary amino group are characterized by the base peak at [M + H]+, whereas the alcohol and acid metabolites show the base peak at [M + NH4]+. In the negative mode only amino acids and acids give good mass spectra with base peaks at [M - H + ACOOH]-. Detection limits by selected ion monitoring were of the order of 50-100 pg SIM on-column, allowing the direct determination of endogenous serotonin in an extract from rat hypothalamus. Quantitation was performed by isotope dilution MS. In the same way 5-hydroxyindoleacetic, indoleacetic, indolepropionic and indolelactic acids in urine were directly determined in an ethyl acetate extract from acidified urine samples. Likewise, gamma-aminobutyric acid and tricyclic antidepressants gave detection limits of 10 pg whereas only nanogram sensitivity could be achieved with catecholamines.     

On-Line HPLC-UV-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry for the rapid delineation and characterization of differences in complex mixtures: a case study using toxic oil variants

An integrated differential approach to the characterization of complex mixtures is presented which includes the targeting of liquid chromatography (LC) peaks for identification using characteristic UV adsorption of the LC peak, subsequent molecular weight and formula determination using accurate mass LC mass spectrometry (MS), and structure characterization using accurate mass LC-tandem mass spectrometry. The use of differential UV adsorption aids in narrowing the scope of the study to only specific peaks of interest. Accurate mass measurement of the molecular ion species provides molecular weight information as well as atomic composition information. The tandem MS (MS/MS) spectra provide fragmentation information which allows for structural characterization of each component. Accurate mass assignment of each of the fragment ions in the MS/MS spectrum provides atomic composition for each of the fragment ions and thus further aids in the structural characterization. These experiments are facilitated through the use of on-line LC-MS and LC-MS/MS with in-line UV detection. A synthetic toxic oil (STO) related to Toxic Oil Syndrome is studied with a focus on possible contaminants resulting from the interaction of aniline, used as a denaturant, with the normal components of the oil. A differential analysis between the STO and a control oil is performed. LC peaks were targeted using UV absorbance to indicate the possible presence of the aniline moiety. Further differential analysis was performed through the determination of the MS signals associated with each component separated on the LC. Finally, the MS/MS data was also used to determine if the fragmentation of the targeted components indicated the presence of aniline. The MS/MS and accurate mass data were used to assign the structures for the targeted components.     

Application of liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry combined with photodiode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry for monitoring pesticides in surface waters

Liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (LC-DAD) and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) are two techniques that have been widely used in monitoring pesticides and their degradation products in the environment. However, the application of liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) for such purposes, once considered too costly, is now gaining considerable ground. In this study, we compare these methods for the multi-residue analysis of pesticides in surface waters collected from the central and southeastern regions of France, and from the St. Lawrence River in Canada. Forty-eight pesticides belonging to eight different classes (triazine, amide, phenylurea, triazole, triazinone, benzimidazole, morpholine, phenoxyalkanoic), along with some of their degradation products, were monitored on a regular basis in the surface waters. For LC-MS, we used the electrospray ionization (ESI) interface in the negative ionization mode on acidic pesticides (phenoxyalkanoic, sulfonylurea), and the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) interface in the positive ionization mode on the remaining chemicals. Different extraction techniques were employed, including liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane, and solid-phase extraction using C18-bonded silica and graphitized carbon black cartridges. Eleven of the target chemicals (desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, atrazine, simazine, terbuthylazine, metolachlor, carbendazime, bentazone, penconazole, diuron and isoproturon) were detected by LC-MS at concentrations ranging from 20 to 900 ng/l in the surface waters from France, and six pesticides (atrazine, desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, cyanazine, simazine and metolachlor) were detected by LC-MS and LC-MS-MS at concentrations ranging from 3 to 52 ng/l in the samples drawn from the St. Lawrence River. There was good correlation between the LC-DAD and LC-MS techniques for 60 samples. The slope of the curves expressing the relationship between the results obtained with LC-DAD versus those obtained by LC-MS was near 1, with a correlation coefficient (r) of over 0.93. The identification potential of the LC-MS technique, however, was greater than that of the LC-DAD; its mass spectra, mainly reflecting the pseudomolecular ion resulting from a protonation or a deprotonation of the molecule, was rich in information. The LC-MS-MS technique with ion trap detectors, tested against the LC-MS on 10 surface water samples, gave results that correlated well with the LC-MS results, albeit generating mass spectra that yielded far more information about the structure of unknown substances. The sensitivity of the LC-MS-MS was equivalent to the selected ion monitoring (SIM) acquisition mode in LC-MS. The detection limits of the target pesticides ranged from 20 to 100 ng/l for the LC-MS technique (under full scan acquisition), and from 2 to 6 ng/l for LC-MS-MS. These limits were improved by a factor of almost 10 by increasing the sample volume to 10 l.     

Capillary liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and micellar electrokinetic chromatography as complementary techniques in environmental analysis

Applications of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and capillary liquid chromatography (LC) to environmental analysis have been limited. In this work we present applications of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) to the analysis of environmental matrices for synthetic dyes. Separations obtained by capillary LC are compared with those obtained under MEKC for seven selected dyes. Both techniques are capable of resolving the subject compounds at high efficiency. Recovery data for spiked water and soil matrices were obtained for four dyes using solid-phase extraction cartridges and disks with determination by MEKC-UV detection. Both pH adjustment via acid and ion-pairing via a cationic surfactant were investigated for isolating dyes. Capillary LC detection was by continuous-flow liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (CF-LSI-MS) whereas MEKC used UV detection (214 nm). Application of peak-profiling at high mass resolution is illustrated with the capillary LC-MS technique. Interfacing capillary LC under CF-LSI-MS using the coaxial arrangement is easier than interfacing CE with this arrangement. MEKC provides a powerful screening and determinative technique, while capillary LC-MS provides a confirmatory tool.     

Improved liquid chromatographic method with pulsed electrochemical detection for the analysis of kanamycin

This work describes the separation of the main component kanamycin A from its related substances using an improved liquid chromatographic method with pulsed electrochemical detection (LC-PED). Two methods, one using volatile ion pairing agents and the other using non-volatile ones were developed. Using volatile additives, the total run time was rather long with no possibility of developing gradient elution. The non-volatile method was found to be more performant and hence was selected for further quantitative work. This method employed gradient elution in order to reduce the analysis time and to improve the sensitivity of the late eluting peaks. Mobile phase A consisted of sodium sulphate (5.0 g/l), sodium octanesulphonate (0.5 g/l) and 0.2 M phosphate buffer pH 3.0 (50.0 ml/l). Mobile phase B was the same as A except for the amount of sodium sulphate which was increased to 15 g/l. Using a Platinum EPS column (150 mm × 4.6 mm ID, 3 μm) kept at 45 °C, 22 components could be separated within 45 min indicating that this method is much more selective than other already published ones. Robustness of the method was examined by means of an experimental design. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were found to be 1.7 and 5 ng, respectively. The method was found to be linear in the range LOQ–600 ng injected with a coefficient of determination equal to 0.999.     

Thermospray and particle beam liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of coumarin anticoagulants

Positive ion mass spectra were obtained from several coumarin oral anticoagulants (phenprocoumon, warfarin, acenocoumarol and dicoumarol) and derivatives by liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry (LC-TSP-MS) and liquid chromatography-electron impact mass spectrometry (LC-EI-MS) to assess the use of LC-MS methods for the determination of these compounds in biological materials. LC-TSP mass spectra showed a single [M + 1]+ ion with no fragmentation; LC-EI mass spectra showed fragment ions which were similar in mass and relative intensities to those obtained by conventional EI-MS. These data should serve as a basis for the development of LC-MS methods for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of coumarin anticoagulants in biological samples. LC-TSP-MS was applied to the determination of phenprocoumon in a plasma extract from an anticoagulated patient.     

Development of an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for high throughput determination of organophosphorus flame retardants in environmental water

Widely used as flame retardants, organophosphate esters (OPEs) are now broadly present in the indoor and outdoor environments. Currently available liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods share some drawbacks with gas chromatography (GC) methods, including time consuming, limited target OPEs, incomplete separation capability for some OPEs and low throughput. In this study, a fast and high throughput LC-MS/MS method was developed. For the first time, all the twelve OPEs that have been studied in literature, ranging from the very polar and volatile trimethyl phosphate to the very hydrophobic and non-volatile tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, were separated within 11 min. Different from previous studies, we found that the blank contamination was mainly from organic mobile phase rather than the enrichment process, and it can be efficiently eliminated by using acetonitrile rather than methanol as the organic phase of the mobile phase. The signal to noise ratio (S/N) was significantly improved by using 0.1% formic acid as an organic modifier. The method exhibited high throughput and sensitivity and can baseline separate 11 of the 12 OPEs studied within 11 min with LOQs ranging from 2 to 6 ng/L. The relative standard deviations were in the range of 2-10%. For both reagent water and river water, the spiked recoveries of OPEs ranged from 70 to 110%, except for the very polar and volatile trimethyl phosphate that has recovery below 10%. The developed procedure was successfully applied to study the OPE contamination of the Songhua River, and it was found that all the target OPEs were detected with total concentrations of around 1 μg/L in the river waters.     

A component tracking algorithm for accelerated and improved liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method development

A method for tracking of sample components during liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method development has been proposed. The method manages to, fully automatically and without user intervention, find the chromatographic peaks in the data sets, discriminate them to sample components and track them when the separation conditions have been changed. The algorithm utilises the resolution obtained from all considered data sets and has the ability to discriminate the non informative parts. The technique has a great sensitivity even in cases where a majority of the tracked components cannot easily be spotted by means of traditional total ion chromatogram (TIC) or base peak chromatogram (BPC) representations. The method was tested on an experimental sample using six different columns and an average of 79% of the suggested sample components could be successfully tracked at a minimum area of 0.05% of the main component in the sample. 66 components with 79-92% of the total suggested component area were able to be tracked between all data sets. The method could be used to rapidly investigate selectivity during different types of separation conditions.     

Effect of eluent on the ionization process in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

The most widely used ionization techniques in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) are electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI). All three provide user friendly coupling of LC to MS. Achieving optimal LC-MS conditions is not always easy, however, owing to the complexity of ionization processes and the many parameters affecting mass spectrometric sensitivity and chromatographic performance. The selection of eluent composition requires particular attention since a solvent that is optimal for analyte ionization often does not provide acceptable retention and resolution in LC. Compromises must then be made between ionization and chromatographic separation efficiencies. The review presents an overview of studies concerning the effect of eluent composition on the ionization efficiency of ESI, APCI and APPI in LC-MS. Solvent characteristics are discussed in the light of ionization theories, and selected analytical applications are described. The aim is to provide practical background information for the development and optimization of LC-MS methods.     

Using orthogonal array to obtain gradient liquid chromatography conditions of enhanced peak intensity to determine geniposide and genipin with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

The conditions to determine geniposide and genipin using gradient liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) via electrospray ionization were obtained using fractional factorial experimental design approaches, guided with Taguchi orthogonal arrays to enhance peak intensity. Geniposide, the major iridoid glycoside component of Gardenia herbs, which has been recognized to have choleretic effects, is transformed to genipin in animals. In this paper, the gradient establishment times, ionization source temperatures, and the concentrations of volatile additive ammonium acetate were investigated under the guidance of experimental designs to obtain LC-MS/MS signals of the highest peak intensity. Using geniposide and genipin standards, the methods are validated at the concentration ranges of 0.5-1000ng/mL and 10-5000ng/mL using ammonium adducts. The correlation coefficients of geniposide and genipin standard curves are greater than 0.999. Compared with the sensitivities of previously published LC-MS/MS methods, the methods developed in this work provide 6-fold sensitivity improvement. The lowest concentrations of geniposide and genipin, 0.19 and 2ng/mL, respectively, to generate detectable LC-MS/MS signal peaks are one order of magnitude lower than the repoered values in previous publications. The measurement accuracy and precision of geniposide are within 23% and 15%, respectively. The accuracy and precision of genipin are within 16% and 12.5%, respectively. When the validated calibration curves of geniposide and genipin are used to determine spiked control samples in rat blood dialysates, the geniposide determination errors are within 15% accuracy and within 5.8% precision, respectively, and the genipin determination errors are within 23% accuracy and within 3.6% precision, respectively.     

Impurity Profiling of Dirithromycin by Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The aim of this study was to characterize as much as possible the unknown peaks in the chromatogram obtained with a non-volatile LC-UV system, which was published earlier for the separation of dirithromycin and its related substances. For this purpose, each peak eluting from the non-volatile system was collected and transferred to a MS, after performing a desalting process. The desalting procedure uses a XTerra RP C₁₈ column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm) and two mobile phases consisting of a mixture of water / 0.1% (v/v) formic acid and a mixture of acetonitrile / 0.1% (v/v) formic acid, respectively. Mass spectral data were acquired on an LCQ ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source (ESI), operating in the positive ion mode. In addition to the thirteen already known compounds, seven new compounds were elucidated. Five impurities showed modifications at the amino group of the desosamine molecule, one an alteration at position C-9 and one a modification at position C-13 of the macrolide ring.     

Investigation of unknown related substances in commercial neomycin samples with liquid chromatography/ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

The characterization of unknown impurities present in neomycin sulfate by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS) is described. The volatile LC method was developed using an evaporative light scattering detector due to its lower investment and operating costs, easier operation and less maintenance than mass spectrometry. The method shows separation of neomycin B from seven potential related substances reported in the European Pharmacopoeia and several other unknown impurities. The unknown impurities were further investigated by coupling the developed LC method with ITMS. Their structures were deduced based on the fragmentation patterns obtained from reference substances. Four unknowns were identified as isomers of paromamine, LP-A, neamine and LP-B.     

A simple ion chromatography-mass spectrometry method for amino acid analysis in beer

The amino acid footprint of different beer samples was analyzed using ion chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. A tailor-made polymer-based cation-exchange resin was operated with a mass spectrometry-compatible eluent under isocratic conditions on a standard high-performance liquid chromatography system coupled to a single quadrupole mass spectrometer using formic acid as a volatile eluent ion source. The partially separated peaks of the isomeric pair isoleucine/leucine were processed according to their area response ratio using vertical peak splitting or Gaussian fit. Additionally, the chromatographic resolution of the isomers was optimized with an adjusted, solely aqueous mobile phase from 0.85 to 2.92. Ion suppression in the electrospray ion source was investigated for the derivatization-free method and found to be insignificant (recovery value 100 ± 15%) for 15 out of the 20 analytes. Quantitative results for various beer and mixed-beer beverages were found to be in high agreement with existing methods. Simultaneous photometric detection demonstrated the method's ability to successfully remove most of the interfering matrix compounds.     

Characterization of N-acyl-D-biotinols by particle-beam liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. An alternative to probe mass spectrometry for thermally labile samples.

In the course of preparing biotin-labeled nucleic acid probes, it was necessary to verify structures of intermediate N-acyl derivatives of biotinol. Characterization by mass spectrometry (MS) involved use of particle-beam liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry MS to supplement standard heated-solids probe techniques. The probe data for a sample of N-toluoylbiotinol indicated it to be a mixture of mono- and di-toluoylbiotinols which was inconsistent with other analytical information. Analysis of the same sample by LC-MS on a reversed-phase column with a water-acetonitrile gradient showed a single major peak with spectrum consistent with that for the monotoluoyl species. These results suggested that a thermal transacylation reaction might be occurring in the probe during heating prior to volatilization and ionization. This was confirmed by heating the sample to 200 degrees C and then repeating the LC-MS analysis to find peaks now present for biotinol and ditoluoylbiotinol as well as the starting material. These results demonstrate the value of particle-beam LC-MS as a technique for obtaining electron-impact mass spectra of thermally sensitive compounds.     

Accurate mass filtering of ion chromatograms for metabolite identification using a unit mass resolution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry system

Acceleration of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric (LC/MS) analysis for metabolite identification critically relies on effective data processing since the rate of data acquisition is much faster than the rate of data mining. The rapid and accurate identification of metabolite peaks from complex LC/MS data is a key component to speeding up the process. Current approaches routinely use selected ion chromatograms that can suffer severely from matrix effects. This paper describes a new method to automatically extract and filter metabolite-related information from LC/MS data obtained at unit mass resolution in the presence of complex biological matrices. This approach is illustrated by LC/MS analysis of the metabolites of verapamil from a rat microsome incubation spiked with biological matrix (bile). MS data were acquired in profile mode on a unit mass resolution triple-quadrupole instrument, externally calibrated using a unique procedure that corrects for both mass axis and mass spectral peak shape to facilitate metabolite identification with high mass accuracy. Through the double-filtering effects of accurate mass and isotope profile, conventional extracted ion chromatograms corresponding to the parent drug (verapamil at m/z 455), demethylated verapamil (m/z 441), and dealkylated verapamil (m/z 291), that contained substantial false-positive peaks, were simplified into chromatograms that are substantially free from matrix interferences. These filtered chromatograms approach what would have been obtained by using a radioactivity detector to detect radio-labeled metabolites of interest.     

Identification of Impurities in 5-Aminolevulinic Acid by Two-Dimensional Column-Switching Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

Identification of impurities in 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) by mass spectrometry is difficult, because MS-incompatible mobile phases, such as phosphate buffers or ion-pair reagents, need to be used to separate the major component from impurities. In this study, the unknown impurities in ALA have been identified by two-dimensional (2D) column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with linear ion trap mass spectrometry (LIT MS). The first-dimensional analytical column was a Gemini C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with a non-volatile salt mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹, and the second-dimensional analytical column was a ZORBAX SB C8 (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 3.5 μm) with a volatile salt mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹. The detection wavelength was 205 nm. Mass spectra were acquired with an ESI source, in both positive and negative ion modes. Six impurities were identified by their MS² and MS³ fragments, and the mass fragmentation patterns and structural assignments of these impurities were studied. The results obtained by the two-dimensional column-switching method were further compared with those of the conventional one-dimensional normal-phase HPLC–MS using an amide column and an MS-compatible mobile phase for separation. The two-dimensional column-switching method described herein proved to be advantageous in terms of the number of impurities identified. The column-switching and online demineralization technique made the mobile phase conditions compatible with mass spectrometry. Thus, the method solves the problem of incompatibility between non-volatile salt mobile phases and mass spectrometry, making it worthy of popularization and application in impurity identification.