Quantitative chiral analysis of phthaloylglutamic acid and related analogs by a single ratio kinetic method using electrospray ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption techniques

A rapid method for quantitative chiral analysis of phthaloylglutamic acid and its dimethyl ester by Cook's kinetic method is demonstrated using electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption techniques. Transition-metal-bound complex ions containing the chiral phthaloylglutamic acid and its dimethyl ester are generated by ESI mass spectrometry and subjected to collision-induced dissociation. The ratio of the two competitive dissociation rates is related to the enantiomeric composition of the drug mixture. A seven-point calibration curve, derived from the kinetic method, allowed rapid quantitation of the enantiomeric excess of drug mixtures. In this paper, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) coupled with the linear ion trap (LIT) technique is evaluated for its applicability as a complementary technique to ESI for chiral discrimination and quantitation.