Gas-phase arylmethyl transfer and cyclodeamination of argentinated N-arylmethyl-pyridin-2-ylmethanimine

Mechanistic understanding of catalysis by combining mass spectrometry and computation

The combination of mass spectrometry and computational chemistry has been proven to be powerful for exploring reaction mechanisms. The former provides information of reaction intermediates, while the latter gives detailed reaction energy profiles.

Distinct Fragmentation Pathways of Anticancer Drugs Induced by Charge-Carrying Cations in the Gas Phase

With the growth of the pharmaceutical industry, structural elucidation of drugs and derivatives using tandem mass spectrometry (MS²) has become essential for drug development and pharmacokinetics studies because of its high sensitivity and low sample requirement. Thus, research seeking to understand fundamental relationships between fragmentation patterns and precursor ion structures in the gas phase has gained attention. In this study, we investigate the fragmentation of the widely used anticancer drugs, doxorubicin (DOX), vinblastine (VBL), and vinorelbine (VRL), complexed by a singly charged proton or alkali metal ion (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺) in the gas phase. The drug-cation complexes exhibit distinct fragmentation patterns in tandem mass spectra as a function of cation size. The trends in fragmentation patterns are explicable in terms of structures derived from ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and theoretical calculations. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Structural Characterization of Anticancer Drug Paclitaxel and Its Metabolites Using Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry and Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a popular anticancer drug used in the treatment of various types of cancers. PTX is metabolized in the human liver by cytochrome P450 to two structural isomers, 3′-p-hydroxypaclitaxel (3p-OHP) and 6α-hydroxypaclitaxel (6α-OHP). Analyzing PTX and its two metabolites, 3p-OHP and 6α-OHP, is crucial for understanding general pharmacokinetics, drug activity, and drug resistance. In this study, electrospray ionization ion mobility mass spectrometry (ESI-IM-MS) and collision induced dissociation (CID) are utilized for the identification and characterization of PTX and its metabolites. Ion mobility distributions of 3p-OHP and 6α-OHP indicate that hydroxylation of PTX at different sites yields distinct gas phase structures. Addition of monovalent alkali metal and silver metal cations enhances the distinct dissociation patterns of these structural isomers. The differences observed in the CID patterns of metalated PTX and its two metabolites are investigated further by evaluating their gas-phase structures. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the observed structural changes and dissociation pathways are the result of the interactions between the metal cation and the hydroxyl substituents in PTX metabolites.

Gas-phase intramolecular cyclization of argentinated N-allylbenzamides

The fragmentations of argentinated N-allylbenzamides have been exhaustively studied through collision-induced dissociation and through deuterium labeling. The intriguing elimination of AgOH is certified as the consequence of intramolecular cyclization between terminal olefin and carbonyl carbon following proton transfer to carbonyl oxygen, rather than simple enolization of amide. Linear free energy correlations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to understand the competitive relationship between AgOH loss and AgH loss, which results from the 1,2-elimination of α-hydrogen (to the amido nitrogen) with the silver.

Gas phase chemistry of N-benzylbenzamides with silver(i) cations: characterization of benzylsilver cation

Benzylsilver cations are synthesized in the gas phase from the collisional dissociation of argentinated N-benzylbenzamides, when the carbonyl oxygen nucleophilically attacks an α-hydrogen.