Studies on the Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry Fragmentation of Amino Sugars Using Synthetic Derivatives of the Trisaccharide Unit β-D-Glucopyranosyl-(1-3)-O-2-deoxy-2-amino-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-4)-O-d-glucopyranose

Abstract

N-Phthaloyl, N-acetyl, N-benzyl, N-acetyl-N-methyl, N,N-dimethyl, N-benzoyl, and N,N-dibenzoyl derivatives of the trisaccharide β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-3)-O-(2-deoxy-2-amino-β-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1-4)-O-β-D-glucopyranose were synthesized and analyzed by FAB MS. The intensity ratios of the peaks resulting from cleavage of the anomeric bond of the glucosamine residue and the respective molecular ion peaks turned out to be high for the N-acyl derivatives and up to two orders of magnitude lower for the N-alkyl compounds. These results show that fragmentation at the anomeric carbon of the amino sugar may be assisted by the carbonyl group and the resulting cation is stabilized by delocalization of the positive charge.