Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common pollutants present in atmospheric aerosols and other environmental mixtures. They are of particular air quality and human health concerns as many of them are carcinogenic toxins. They also affect absorption of solar radiation by aerosols, therefore contributing to the radiative forcing of climate. For environmental chemistry studies, it is advantageous to quantify PAH components using the same analytical technics that are commonly applied to characterize a broad range of polar analytes present in the same environmental mixtures. Liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array and high‐resolution mass spectrometric detection (LC‐PDA‐HRMS) is a method of choice for comprehensive characterization of chemical composition and quantification of light absorption properties of individual organic compounds present in the environmental samples. However, quantification of non‐polar PAHs by this method is poorly established because of their imperfect ionization in electrospray ionization (ESI) technique. This tutorial article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the quantitative analysis of 16 priority pollutant PAHs in a standard reference material using the LC–MS platform coupled with the ESI source. Results are further corroborated by the quantitation experiments using an atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) method, which is more sensitive for the PAH detection. The basic concepts and step‐by‐step practical guidance for the PAHs quantitative characterization are offered based on the systematic experiments, which include (1) Evaluation effects of different acidification levels by formic acid on the (+)ESI‐MS detection of PAHs. (2) Comparison of detection limits in ESI+ versus APPI+ experiments. (3) Investigation of the PAH fragmentation patterns in MS2experiments at different collision energies. (4) Calculation of wavelength dependent mass absorption coefficient (
LC–HRMS and Chemical Derivatization Strategies for the Structure Elucidation of Caribbean Ciguatoxins: Identification of C-CTX-3 and -4
Ciguatera poisoning is linked to the ingestion of seafood that is contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs). The structural variability of these polyether toxins in nature remains poorly understood due to the low concentrations present even in highly toxic fish, which makes isolation and chemical characterization difficult. We studied the mass spectrometric fragmentation of Caribbean CTXs, i.e., the epimers C-CTX-1 and -2 (1 and 2), using a sensitive UHPLC–HRMS/MS approach in order to identify product ions of diagnostic value. We found that the fragmentation of the ladder-frame backbone follows a characteristic pattern and propose a generalized nomenclature for the ions formed. These data were applied to the structural characterization of a pair of so far poorly characterized isomers, C-CTX-3 and -4 (3 and 4), which we found to be reduced at C-56 relative to 1 and 2. Furthermore, we tested and applied reduction and oxidation reactions, monitored by LC–HRMS, in order to confirm the structures of 3 and 4. Reduction of 1 and 2 with NaBH4 afforded 3 and 4, thereby unambiguously confirming the identities of 3 and 4. In summary, this work provides a foundation for mass spectrometry-based characterization of new C-CTXs, including a suite of simple chemical reactions to assist the examination of structural modifications.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10154900
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Marine Drugs
- Volume:
- 18
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1660-3397
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 182
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract MAC λ) of the standard mixture and its individual PAHs using LC‐PDA data. (5) Assessment of the minimal injected mass required for accurate quantification ofMAC λ of the standard mixture and of a multi‐component environmental sample. -
Ciguatera poisoning is a global health concern caused by the consumption of seafood containing ciguatoxins (CTXs). Detection of CTXs poses significant analytical challenges due to their low abundance even in highly toxic fish, the diverse and in-part unclarified structures of many CTX congeners, and the lack of reference standards. Selective detection of CTXs requires methods such as liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) or high-resolution MS (LC–HRMS). While HRMS data can provide greatly improved resolution, it is typically less sensitive than targeted LC–MS/MS and does not reliably comply with the FDA guidance level of 0.1 µg/kg CTXs in fish tissue that was established for Caribbean CTX-1 (C-CTX-1). In this study, we provide a new chemical derivatization approach employing a fast and simple one-pot derivatization with Girard’s reagent T (GRT) that tags the C-56-ketone intermediate of the two equilibrating C-56 epimers of C-CTX-1 with a quaternary ammonium moiety. This derivatization improved the LC–MS/MS and LC–HRMS responses to C-CTX-1 by approximately 40- and 17-fold on average, respectively. These improvements in sensitivity to the GRT-derivative of C-CTX-1 are attributable to: the improved ionization efficiency caused by insertion of a quaternary ammonium ion; the absence of adduct-ions and water-loss peaks for the GRT derivative in the mass spectrometer, and; the prevention of on-column epimerization (at C-56 of C-CTX-1) by GRT derivatization, leading to much better chromatographic peak shapes. This C-CTX-1–GRT derivatization strategy mitigates many of the shortcomings of current LC–MS analyses for C-CTX-1 by improving instrument sensitivity, while at the same time adding selectivity due to the reactivity of GRT with ketones and aldehydes.more » « less
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Decavanadate (V 10 O 28 6− or V10) is a paradigmatic member of the polyoxidometalate (POM) family, which has been attracting much attention within both materials/inorganic and biomedical communities due to its unique structural and electrochemical properties. In this work we explored the utility of high-resolution electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) and ion exclusion chromatography LC/MS for structural analysis of V10 species in aqueous solutions. While ESI generates abundant molecular ions representing the intact V10 species, their isotopic distributions show significant deviations from the theoretical ones. A combination of high-resolution MS measurements and hydrogen/deuterium exchange allows these deviations to be investigated and interpreted as a result of partial reduction of V10. While the redox processes are known to occur in the ESI interface and influence the oxidation state of redox-active analytes, the LC/MS measurements using ion exclusion chromatography provide unequivocal evidence that the mixed-valence V10 species exist in solution, as extracted ion chromatograms representing V10 molecular ions at different oxidation states exhibit distinct elution profiles. The spontaneous reduction of V10 in solution is seen even in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and has not been previously observed. The susceptibility to reduction of V10 is likely to be shared by other redox active POMs. In addition to the molecular V10 ions, a high-abundance ionic signal for a V 10 O 26 2− anion was displayed in the negative-ion ESI mass spectra. None of the V 10 O 26 cations were detected in ESI MS, and only a low-abundance signal was observed for V 10 O 26 anions with a single negative charge, indicating that the presence of abundant V 10 O 26 2− anions in ESI MS reflects gas-phase instability of V 10 O 28 anions carrying two charges. The gas-phase origin of the V 10 O 26 2− anion was confirmed in tandem MS measurements, where mild collisional activation was applied to V10 molecular ions with an even number of hydrogen atoms (H 4 V 10 O 28 2− ), resulting in a facile loss of H 2 O molecules and giving rise to V 10 O 26 2− as the lowest-mass fragment ion. Water loss was also observed for V 10 O 28 anions carrying an odd number of hydrogen atoms ( e.g. , H 5 V 10 O 28 − ), followed by a less efficient and incomplete removal of an OH˙ radical, giving rise to both HV 10 O 26 − and V 10 O 25 − fragment ions. Importantly, at least one hydrogen atom was required for ion fragmentation in the gas phase, as no further dissociation was observed for any hydrogen-free V10 ionic species. The presented workflow allows a distinction to be readily made between the spectral features revealing the presence of non-canonical POM species in the bulk solution from those that arise due to physical and chemical processes occurring in the ESI interface and/or the gas phase.more » « less
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Rationale Free fatty acids and lipid classes containing fatty acid esters are major components of lipidome. In the absence of a chemical derivatization step, FA anions do not yield all of the structural information that may be of interest under commonly used collision‐induced dissociation (CID) conditions. A line of work that avoids condensed‐phase derivatization takes advantage of gas‐phase ion/ion chemistry to charge invert FA anions to an ion type that provides the structural information of interest using conventional CID. This work was motivated by the potential for significant improvement in overall efficiency for obtaining FA chain structural information.
Methods A hybrid triple quadrupole/linear ion‐trap tandem mass spectrometer that has been modified to enable the execution of ion/ion reaction experiments was used to evaluate the use of 4,4′,4″‐tri‐tert‐butyl‐2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridine (ttb‐Terpy) as the ligand in divalent magnesium complexes for charge inversion of FA anions.
Results Mg(ttb‐Terpy)22+complexes provide significantly improved efficiency in producing structurally informative products from FA ions relative to Mg(Terpy)22+complexes, as demonstrated for straight‐chain FAs, branched‐chain FAs, unsaturated FAs, and cyclopropane‐containing FAs. It was discovered that most of the structurally informative fragmentation from [FA‐H + Mg(ttb‐Terpy)]+results from the loss of a methyl radical from the ligand followed by radical‐directed dissociation (RDD), which stands in contrast to the charge‐remote fragmentation (CRF) believed to be operative with the [FA‐H + Mg(Terpy)]+ions.
Conclusions This work demonstrates that a large fraction of product ions from the CID of ions of the form [FA‐H + Mg(ttb‐Terpy)]+are derived from RDD of the FA backbone, with a very minor fraction arising from structurally uninformative dissociation channels. This ligand provides an alternative to previously used ligands for the structural characterization of FAs via CRF.
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/md18040182
