Analysis of candidate anticancer drugs by thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and by high-resolution mass spectrometry

Ammonia laser desorption/chemical ionization with ammonium bromide: Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry of aromatic hydrocarbons

Laser desorption/ionization combined with Fourier transform ion cylcotron resonance mass spectrometry (LD/FT/ICR/MS) is a proven technique for the analysis of nonvolatile materials. Unfortunately, LD tends to produce a large excess of neutral species compared to ions. Laser desorption followed by chemical ionization (LD/CI) by use of a reagent gas is a seIective and sensitive means of control in the analysis of nonvolatile compounds. In this article we demonstrate the technique of ammonia LD/CI by addition of a small amount of ammonium bromide (NH4Br) to an involatile sample, i.e., the ammonium salt is used in place of ammonia reagent gas. For various aromatic hydrocarbons, abundant (M + H)(+) ions are produced as a result of CI A primary advantage of this method in FT/ICR/MS is that selective LD/CI experiments may be conducted at low pressure as in pulsed valve CI (but without the need for pulsed valve operation), thereby providing the potential for obtaining high-resolution FT/ICR mass spectra.

Biochemical applications of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

The current state-of-the-art liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is reviewed with particular attention to biomedical applications. The most common LC-MS interface designs are described and compared. These interfaces include transport, direct liquid introduction, thermospray, atmospheric pressure ionization, monodisperse aerosol generation, open-tubular LC and continuous-flow fast atom bombardment. The relative sensitivities of the techniques are compared as much as possible, as well as their tendencies to induce thermal decomposition of the sample. Applications of these various interface types to a variety of biomedically important compound classes, including peptides, nucleotides, steroids, lipids, carbohydrates, xenobiotic metabolites and drugs, are also reviewed.

Displacement of the bidentate malonate ligand from (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)malonatoplatinum(II) by physiologically important compounds in vitro

Previous studies of platinum(II) compounds with bidentate leaving ligands have emphasized the contrast between the stability of the bidentate leaving ligand in vitro (T1/2 greater than 11 days in water) and the apparent reactivity of these bidentate platinum compounds in vivo. However, none of these studies actually measured the stability of these compounds in tissue culture medium (or in any other reaction mixture resembling in vivo conditions). The experiments described in this paper were designed to measure the stability and fate of (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)malonatoplatinum(II) [Pt(mal)(trans-dach)] in RPMI-1640 tissue culture medium. The T1/2 for displacement of the malonate ligand in this medium was 9.5 hr at 37 degrees. Of the inorganic anions present in the medium, chloride accounted for the greatest displacement of the malonate ligand. However, at the concentrations with which it is found in tissue culture medium and in blood, bicarbonate was nearly as effective as chloride at displacing the malonate ligand. This observation is of particular significance because the bicarbonatoplatinum complex is unstable and the bicarbonate displacement reaction appears to represent a major non-enzymatic pathway for the formation of the biologically active aquated platinum complexes. At the concentrations with which they occur inside the cell, phosphates may play a similar role. Of the amino acids present in the medium, glutathione and the sulfur-containing amino acids were 50- to 400-fold more effective at displacing the malonate ligand than the other amino acids in RPMI-1640 medium. In the case of methionine, the reaction with Pt(mal)(trans-dach) was shown to be a direct displacement (SN2) reaction at physiological methionine concentrations. When Pt(mal)(trans-dach) was incubated at 37 degrees for 24 hr in RPMI-1640 medium, the major transformation products formed were (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)methionineplatinum(II) (38%), other amino acid-platinum complexes (19%), and (d,l,-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)dichloroplatinum(II) (14%). Eleven percent of the Pt(mal)(trans-dach) remained intact. Mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR indicated that the (d,l-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)methionineplatinum(II) complexes that formed in RPMI-1640 medium consisted of approximately 60% of the bidentate mono-methionine complex coordinated to platinum at the sulfur and alpha-amino positions and 40% of the bis-methionine complex, presumably coordinated at the sulfurs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Derivatization to improve thermospray HPLC/MS sensitivity for the determination of prostaglandins and thromboxane B2

Derivatization of prostaglandins and thromboxane B2 using diethyl amino ethyl chloride and diethyl amino ethyl bromide improved thermospray HPLC/MS sensitivity. The derivatization was evaluated for prostaglandin A1, A2, D2, E2, F1 alpha, F2 alpha, and thromboxane B2. The derivatization reaction, thermospray operating conditions, and mode of detection were optimized to produce the most intense [M + H]+ or [M - H]- ions for the derivative. Derivatization was better than 99% complete in 1 hour at 75 degrees C. No thermal degradation of the prostaglandins was observed. Positive thermospray ionization proved the mode most sensitive, enabling detection from 10 to 300 pg of each prostaglandin under multiple ion detection. The thermospray spectra exhibited intense [M + H]+ ions for the derivative with a few fragment ions from sequential losses of water from the [M + H]+ ion. Detection of a prostaglandin metabolite in plasma over the concentration range from 3 ppm to 30 ppb was possible using this derivatization.

Determination of prostaglandins, and other metabolites of arachidonic acid by thermospray HPLC/MS using post column derivatization

Thermospray HPLC/MS analysis of the metabolites of arachidonic acid proved to be sensitive and specific. The compounds included were hydroxy-fatty acids (5-HETE, 12-HETE, and 15-HETE) and prostaglandins PGD2, PGE2, PGF2 alpha, PGA2, PGA1, TXB2, and 6-Keto-PGF1 alpha. Thermospray HPLC/MS analysis allows for simultaneous monitoring of each compound without the need for additional sample preparation or derivatization. The thermospray spectra for the metabolites exhibited [M + NH4]+ ions and fragment ions because of sequential loss of equivalents of H2O. HPLC/MS showed detection limits in the 0.5 to 5 ng range when using multiple ion detection for most of the metabolites. Post-column derivatization of these metabolites using trimethylanilinium hydroxide (TMAH) to form the methyl esters is also presented. This derivatization resulted in a gain in ion current by a factor of 3-6 for most compounds while adding potential specificity to the analysis. The thermospray spectra of the derivatives were nearly identical to the spectra of the free acid except the peaks were incremented by 14 daltons due to the methyl ester formation. The derivatization of the carboxylic acid group proved to be complete under thermospray conditions producing the maximum ion current and causing no compromise in operation of the interface.