Gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry of methyl ethers of methyl N-acetyl-N-methyl-β-d-neuraminate methyl glycoside

Partial methylation of methyl N-acetyl-β-d-neuraminate methyl glycoside using methyl iodide and silver oxide gives a mixture of methyl ethers of methyl N-acetyl-N-methyl-β-d-neuraminate methyl glycoside, which was fractionated by chloroform-water partition followed by preparative column chromatography on silica gel. After trimethylsilylation of the fractions, gas-liquid chromatography on OV-101 and mass spectrometry facilitated the identification of 13 methyl ethers.