Affinity chromatography on vancomycin coupled to reversed phase liquid chromatography/ electrospray-ion trap mass spectrometry for the screening of combinatorial libraries

Summary The combination affinity chromatography-mass spectrometry can be drastically improved by introducing a reversed phase column prior to the mass spectrometric detection. The interactions of the macrocyclic antibiotic vancomycin with oligopeptides were used to illustrate the performance of the technique. A library of 36 peptides was successfully screened and the active compounds identified by electrospray MS⁽ⁿ⁾. The strong affinity of compounds ending with (D)-alanine and with (D)-alanine or an aromatic (D)-amino acid in the penultimate position with vancomycin was confirmed.