Structural determination of sildenafil and its analogues in dietary supplements by fast‐atom bombardment collision‐induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry

Sildenafil and its analogues, which are used as illegal additives in several dietary supplements, were isolated by liquid‐liquid extraction and column chromatography and analyzed by fast‐atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB‐MS). Structures of sildenafil and its derivatives were elucidated by FAB‐tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) with exact mass measurement in the positive‐ion mode. To find structurally diagnostic ions for the sildenafil analogues, authentic sildenafil was preferentially analyzed by high‐energy collision‐induced dissociation (CID)‐MS/MS. The CID‐MS/MS spectra of [M+H]⁺ precursor ions resulted in the formation of numerous characteristic ions via a series of dissociative processes. The product ions formed by CID provided important information on the modification of the piperazine ring, the phenylsulfonyl group and the pyrazolopyrimidine moiety of sildenafil. By interpreting their MS/MS spectra, the chemical structures of sildenafil analogues isolated from dietary supplements could be elucidated and fragmentation patterns were proposed. To clearly identify the sidenafil derivatives in dietary supplements, some of the derivatives such as acetildenafil, homosildenafil and hydroxyhomosildenafil which are not commercially available were synthesized and compared with their MS/MS spectra. In addition, high‐resolution mass measurements were conducted to obtain the elemental compositions of sildenafil and its analogues. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ion formation in fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry: a divided probe investigation of gas-phase reactions

Some ion-formation processes during fast atom bombardment (FAB) are discussed, especially the possibility of reactions in the gas phase. Divided (two halves) FAB probe tips were used for introducing two different samples into the source at the same time. Our results showed [M + A]⁺ ions (where M = crown ethers and A = alkali metal ions), can be produced, at least in part, in the gas phase when crown ethers and sources of alkali metal ion are placed on two halves of the FAB probe tip. The extent of this ion formation depends on the volatility of the crown ether and on steric factors. Cluster ions such as (M + LiCl)Li⁺, (2M + LiCl)Li⁺, [2M + K]⁺ and [2M + Na]⁺ are also observed to form in the gas phase. Unimolecular decompositions contribute to some ions detected in FAB. When the alkali ion salt and the crown ether are mixed together the probability of [M + A]⁺ ion formation increases significantly, regardless of the volatility of the crown ether.     

Is there a ‘matrix suppression effect’ under fast‐atom bombardment liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry of ionic surfactants in glycerol?

Some features of a ‘matrix suppression effect’ caused by ionic surface‐active compounds under fast‐atom bombardment (FAB) liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) are being revised. It is shown that abundant transfer of the glycerol matrix molecules to the gas phase does occur under FAB‐LSIMS of ionic surfactants, contrary to popular belief. This process can be obscure because of the dependence of the charge state of the glycerol‐containing cluster ions on the type of ionic surfactant. It is revealed that, while glycerol matrix signals are really completely suppressed in the positive ion mass spectra of cationic surfactants (decamethoxinum, aethonium), abundant deprotonated glycerol and glycerol‐anion clusters are recorded in the negative ion mode. In the case of an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate), on the contrary, glycerol is completely suppressed in the negative ion mode, but is present in the protonated and cationized forms in the positive ion mass spectra. It is suggested that such patterns of positive and negative ion FAB‐LSIMS spectra of ionic surfactants solutions reflect the structure and composition of the electric double layer formed at the vacuum‐liquid interface by organic cations or anions and their counterions. Processes leading to the formation of the glycerol‐containing ions preferentially of positive or negative charge are discussed. The most obvious of them is efficient binding of glycerol to inorganic counterions of the salts Cl^? or Na⁺, which is confirmed by data from quantum chemical calculations. The high content of the counterions and relatively small content of glycerol in the sputtered zone may be responsible for the charge‐selective suppression of neat glycerol clusters of opposite charge to the counterions. In the case of a mixture of cationic and anionic surfactants the substitution of inorganic counterions by organic ones was observed. The dependence of the exchange rate in the surface layer is not a linear function of the bulk solution concentration, and an effect of abrupt recharging of the surface can be registered. No both positively or negatively charged pure glycerol and glycerol‐inorganic counterion clusters are recorded for the mixture. Correlations between the mass spectrometric observations and some phenomena of surface and colloid chemistry and physics are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

单糖立体异构体的测定: 正丁基硼酸衍生物的快原子轰击质谱

研究了把衍生化反应引用到正离子质谱中, 利用正丁基硼酸[n-BuB(OH)2]对自然界常见的11种单糖: D-核糖、D-来苏糖、D-木糖、L-阿拉伯糖、L-鼠李糖、L-岩藻糖、D-葡萄糖、D-甘露糖、D-半乳糖、D-果糖、L-山梨糖进行衍生化反应, 通过快原子轰击(FAB)谱图区分单糖的立体异构体, 以进一步探讨区分寡糖、多糖及糖甙化合物中糖的立体异构体的方法.     

Application of dicyandiamide as a matrix additive in fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

Dicyandiamide (DCDA) is used as a chemical additive in the fast atom bombardment (FAB) matrix 3-mercaptopropane-l,2-diol (thioglycerol) and propane-l,2,3-triol (glycerol). It is demonstrated that DCDA can be used to generate adduct ions [M + H + DCDA]⁺ for a variety of common organic functional groups to confirm the molecular ion [M + H]⁺. It is particularly useful for aromatic and alkyl amines and these compounds were therefore investigated in greater detail. Primary and secondary amines on heating react with DCDA to produce biguanides. DCDA can be used as a derivatizing reagent, but the reaction times are typically longer than 12 h and, therefore, it has limited utility. Biguanides can be detected at the nanogram level in full-range FAB mass spectral analysis.     

Stereochemical effects in mass spectrometry XIII—Determination of absolute configuration by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

It was found that in the fast atom bombardment mass spectra of some asymmetric secondary alcohols and amines, when a pair of enantiomers, such as (2R,3R)- and (2S,2S)-2,3-diacetoxysuccinic anhydride and (2R,3R)- and (2S,3S)-2,3-dibenzoyloxysuccinic anhydride, were used as reagents, the relative abundances of characteristic ions formed by the stereoselective reaction between a sample and a reagent of different configurations were much higher than those of ions formed by a sample and a reagent of the same configuration. The absolute configurations of the sample molecule may be predicted by examination of the mass spectra of the sample measured with reagents of R and S configurations. This approach proved to be a convenient way to determine the absolute configuration of organic molecules at the micromole level by fast atom bombardment mass Spectrometry, and it has advantages over the chemical ionization method reported previously for the analysis of polar and involatile compounds.     

Structure determination of a cyclic tetrapeptide : tentoxine by mass spectrometry using fast atom bombardment for ionization

The molecular mass and the sequence of tentoxine, a cyclic tetrapeptide, are determined by the mass spectrum of this compound which was obtained by a mass spectrometer using the fast atom bombardment for ionization.     

The application of normal phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry by using coaxial continuous flow fast atom bombardment

This article describes the interfacing of a normal phase fused silica capillary high performance liquid chromatography system to a magnetic sector mass spectrometer by using continuous flow fast atom bombardment (CFFAB). While the performance of CFFAB using reversed phase techniques is well understood, there is very little if any documentation on interfacing nonaqueous normal phase systems with CFFAB. This article describes the use of packed fused silica capillary liquid chromatography columns and the corresponding normal phase solvent systems. The experimental parameters required with nonaqueous solvent systems differ significantly from those of aqueous solvent systems. Ditallowdimethylammonium chloride (DTDMAC), a cationic surfactant commonly used as the active ingredient in fabric softener products, was chosen as a model compound to demonstrate the technique. DTDMAC was identified in a commercially available fabric softener product by using on-line normal phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry with accurate mass and tandem mass spectrometry.     

Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry of Mycobacterial glycopeptidolipid antigens: Structural characterization by charge remote fragmentation

Mycobacteria contain species- and type-specific antigens. Among them, glycopeptidolipids are present in medically relevant organisms belonging to Mycobacterium avium or M. fortuitum complexes. Fast-a tom bombardment mass spectrometry of glycopeptidolipids has proven to be difficult. In this article the cationization method with a metanitrobenzyl alcohol matrix, doped with sodium iodide, is described for analyzing these molecules. The molecular weight of the intact glycopeptidolipids was successfully determined and, using mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy spectrometry, the complete sequences of the peptide and saccharide moieties were elucidated. Moreover, the two structural variants present in these molecules were clearly differentiated. Application of the method showed that the same structural variant occurs in the glycopeptidolipids from two serologically related species of the M. fortuitum complex.     

Determination of the stability constants of macrocyclic ligand-alkali cation complexes by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

Quantitative studies of the complexation of the macrocylic ligands, 18 crown 6 (18C6,1) and cyclogentiotetraose peracetate (CGD4Ac,2), with alkali cations, have been investigated by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (f.a.b.m.s.). Complexation curves of 18C6 with Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ in glycerol, and of CGD4Ac with Cs⁺ in PEG 200, were obtained by plotting the complex peak intensity against the alkali cation concentration. From these curves we describe a method to calculate the stability constant for an alkali cation-macroyclic ligand complex. There is a good agreement between stability constants obtained either by f.a.b.m.s. or calorimetric techniques for 18C6-alkali cation complexes. These results suggest that the f.a.b. technique can be used to study complex formation and determine the stability constant.     

Synthesis of a linear-type pentanuclear (RhIII-WVI-CuI-WVI-RhIII) sulfide cluster predicted by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

The positive ion FAB mass spectrum of a linear trinuclear sulfide cluster, [Cp^*RhP(OEt)₃(-WS₄CuCl] (1; Cp^* = ⁵-C₅Me₅), shows many ions heavier than the molecular ion. One of the envelopes corresponds to a pentanuclear cationic cluster of [{Cp^*RhP(OEt)₃(WS₄)}₂Cu]⁺. It has been synthesized by a reaction between [Cp^*RhP(OEt)₃WS₄] and Cu⁺ in a 2:1 molar ratio as the PF₆ salt [{Cp^*RhP(OEt)₃(-WS₄)}₂Cu][PF₆] (2 · PF₆), which is characterized by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction, EXAFS, and IR measurements.This paper is dedicated to Professor Jiaxi Lu on the occassion of this 80th birthday and in recognition of his pioneering contribution to this field.     

Improved detection limits for fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry: A study of time-dependent desorption using a model pulsed bombardment ionization method

Certain sample preparations for fast atom bombardment (FAB) yield an intense but brief pulse of sample ions at the onset of ionization. A model system is used to study this phenomenon. This system utilizes a conventional source of a constant flux of fast atoms and a probe that permits mechanical movement of the sample stage. This is used to simulate the effect of pulsing the atom beam. Experiments with model samples and selected ion monitoring detection show that, following bombardment initiation, sample ions are preferentially desorbed with respect to ions from the FAB matrix. Exhibition of preferential sample desorption depends upon the analyte behaving as a surfactant in the selected matrix. When used in conjunction with an array detector that permits data collection in a time-resolved manner, this system allows collection of useful mass spectra with significantly enhanced sensitivity compared to normal bombardment. When applied to the undecapeptide eledoisin (sequence pyro-EPSKDAFIGLM-NH₂, MW 1187.6 Da) this novel methodology allows an improvement in detection limit of at least three to four orders of magnitude over that observed when using conventional continuous FAB and a point detector.     

Mechanistic considerations of the protonation and fragmentation of highly functionalized molecules in fast atom bombardment: High resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the ions formed by fast atom bombardment of digoxin and related cardiac glycosides

High resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry analyses of the major ions of digoxin formed by fast atom bombardment are presented and discussed to investigate the mechanisms through which fragment ions are formed. Similar cardiac glycosides are also analyzed to provide support for the proposed fragment assignments. Remote site fragmentation with the charge localized on the aglycone portion of the molecule may provide an explanation for the fragment ions observed in these studies because the majority of these ions contain the aglycone portion of the molecule. The results obtained parallel previously reported results from an ammonia chemical ionization mass spectral study of cardiac glycosides.     

Quantitative analysis of the molecular species of monosialogangliosides by continuous-flow fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry.

Negative-ion continuous-flow fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry was evaluated as a means for the quantitative analysis of N-acetylneuraminyl-galactosyl-glucosyl-ceramide (NeuAc-GM3) and N-acetylgalactosaminyl-(N-acetylneuraminyl)galactosyl-glucosyl-ceramide (NeuAc-GM2). This study was carried out on a 7070-EQ mass spectrometer (VG Analytical, Manchester, UK) using a home-made continuous-flow fast-atom bombardment probe with a mixture of methanol + water + triethanolamine (70:27:3, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Utilizing 100 ng of acetyl-lysogalactosyl-N-acetylgalactosaminyl-(N-acetylneuraminyl)g alactosyl-glucosyl-ceramide (acetyl-lysoGM1) as an internal standard, standard curves for NeuAc-GM3 d18:1-16:0, NeuAc-GM3 d18:1-18:0 and Neuac-GM2 d18:1-18:0 were found to be linear over the range 5-250 ng, with associated correlation coefficients of 0.990-0.997. The lower limit of detection was found to be 2.5 ng. Satisfactory results could also be obtained when the calibration curves were derived from the deprotonated molecular ions of a mixture of the NeuAc-GM2 and NeuAc-GM3 classes. Using this approach, quantitative determination of NeuAc-GM3 d18:1-16:0 from rat adrenal gland was performed using N-acetylneuraminic acid assay as a test control. We found 278 +/- 36 ng of this species in 1 mg of tissue (three replicate experiments). The procedure represents a sensitive method for the quantitation of monosialogangliosides and its capability to give molecular species information.     

Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry of ionic gold(I) and gold(III) carbene derivatives: An investigation of the formation of [M – H]+ species

Fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry of the gold(I) and gold(III) derivatives, {Au[C(Y)–NHAr]₂}⁺X^? and {Au[C(Y)–NHAr]₂I₂} ⁺ X^? (Y =? OC₂H₅ or ? NHAr; X^? = CIO₄^? or BF₄^?; Ar = p-CH₃? C₆H₄) has led to the detection, for the alkoxyamino derivatives only, of [M–H]⁺˙ molecular species. The mechanism of the formation of these unusual species has been studied with respect to the oxidation state of gold, nature of the matrix, matrix acidity and ligand structure. The energetics of two possible alternative mechanisms has been studied by means of ab initio theoretical calculations. Both experimental and theoretical data indicate that [M–H]⁺˙ formation is due to the reaction of M⁺ with H⁺-philic and/or H˙-philic species produced from the matrix by FAB. Whatever the operative mechanism, the [M–H]⁺˙ formation is to be considered a FAB-induced oxidative process.     

Simultaneous determination of β2‐agonists in human urine by fast‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: method validation and clinical application

A fast screening protocol was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 15 β₂‐agonists in human urine (bambuterol, cimbuterol, clenbuterol, fenoterol, formoterol, isoproterenol, mapenterol, metaproterenol, procaterol, ractopamine, ritodrine, salbutamol, salmeterol, terbutaline, tulobuterol). The overall sample processing includes deconjugation with enzyme hydrolysis, liquid–liquid extraction, followed by derivatization of the extract and detection of β₂‐agonists trimethylsilyl‐derivatives by fast‐gas chromatography/electron impact–mass spectrometry (fast‐GC/EI‐MS). Sample extraction and derivatization were optimized with the purpose of improving recoveries and reaction yields for a variety of analytes with different structures simultaneously, while keeping the procedure simple and reliable. Validation parameters were determined for each analyte under investigation, including selectivity, linearity, intra‐ and inter‐assay precision, extraction recoveries and signal to noise ratio (S/N) at the lowest calibration level. Fast‐GC/MS sequences, based on the use of short columns, high carrier‐gas velocity and fast temperature ramping, allow considerable reduction of the analysis time (7 min), while maintaining adequate chromatographic resolution. The overall GC cycle time was less than 9 min, allowing a processing rate of 6 samples/h. High MS‐sampling rate, using a benchtop quadrupole mass analyzer, resulted in accurate peak shape definition under both scan and selected ion monitoring modes, and high sensitivity in the latter mode. The method was successfully tested on real samples arising from clinical treatments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.