Electrospray ionization and triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry study of some biologically relevant homo- and heterodimeric cadmium thiolate conjugates

A series of 19 compounds of general formula R₁S-Cd-SR₂, R₁, and R₂, being some biologically relevant thiol amino acids and peptides, were prepared by direct reaction of cadmium(II) ions and thiols in water at millimolar concentration. The obtained products were characterized by electrospray ionization and triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. The source spectra of stoichiometric 1:2 Cd-thiol systems containing either an individual thiol or equimolar mixtures of two different thiols featured several Cd-containing signals, although at much lesser intensity than in the previously reported experiments with mercury(II) (J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2004, 15, 288–300). Also, the relative intensity of the homo- and heterodimeric thiolates were significantly different from the theoretically expected 1:2:1 ratio, thus pointing at some degree of discrimination between the different thiols. In particular, homo-cysteine showed much less reactivity than cysteine, and penicillamine and cysteine methyl ester much less than the free amino acid. The fragment spectra show structure-specific ions for the different ligands bound to the metal ion and allow a stand-alone determination of the connectivity also of isomeric pairs. The fragmentation pathways are similar to those observed for the corresponding mercury(II) analogues, with the addition of further intense and specific fragments, one formally carrying a Cd-bound OH ligand and one connected as a five-membered oxazolone carrying a cadmium-bis-thiolate side chain, both formed with a high intensity. Energy-resolved fragmentation data show that metal-free ions can be generated from cysteine but not from glutathione conjugates and point to the possibility of unveiling differences in the biochemical behavior of the conjugates of different heavy metals through the detailed study of their mass spectrometric fragmentation.