Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry in nucleoside, nucleotide and modified nucleotide characterization

Abstract

Macromolecules such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid as well as their constituents play an important role in all kinds of biochemical reactions in nature. Hence their isolation and identification plays a major role in biochemical analysis. Mass spectrometry (MS) has gained an important position in this field because of the development of soft ionization techniques such as fast atom bombardment (FAB), liquid secondary mass spectrometry, thermospray ionization (TSP), the atmospheric pressure ionization techniques, electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and matrix assisted laser desorption. Because of their polar nature, mixtures of nucleosides, nucleotides and oligonucleotides are wel separated by liquid chromatography (LC) and electrophoretic techniques. Therefore it is not surprising to note that a lot of effort has been put into the development of LC–MS methods for the analysis of these compounds. In this review, covering the period 1990–1996, the LC–MS analysis of nucleobases, nucleosides, nucleotides, oligonucleotides and DNA adducts by TSP, continuous flow FAB and electrospray MS is discussed.