Quantification of the In Vitro and In Vivo Metabolic Fates of 2-, 3- and 4-Bromobenzoic Acids Using High Temperature LC Coupled to ICP-MS and Linear Ion Trap MS

High temperature liquid chromatography (HTLC), with water as the mobile phase, combined with ICP-MS tuned to the detection of Br, for quantification, and a linear ion trap MS, for structural identification, were applied to determine the disposition and metabolic fate of 2-, 3- and 4-bromobenzoic acids (BBAs) following in vitro incubation with rat hepatocytes at 4 mM. The separation of the metabolites was performed using a thermal gradient to increase the eluotropic strength of the aqueous mobile phase through the run to elute less polar components. The use of highly aqueous solvents for separations involving ICP-MS is advantageous because the water does not change the conductivity of the plasma thereby providing a more stable system. The improved system stability resulted in better sensitivity, as shown by the increased signal intensity for HTLC compared to conventional reversed-phase separations. Using HTLC to investigate the in vitro metabolic fate of the BBAs showed the major route of metabolism to be glycine conjugation, irrespective of the structure of the parent, but with different amounts produced depending on the positional isomer. The comparison of HTLC with the conventional methodology showed that chromatography at elevated temperatures had no effect on the observed metabolite profile. HTLC was also applied to urine obtained from an in vivo sample and showed an improved chromatographic peak shape compared to conventional liquid chromatography (LC) whilst providing the same analytical result.