Mass Spectrometry as a Powerful Analytical Technique for the Structural Characterization of Synthesized and Natural Products

Abstract

Mass spectrometry is an important tool for the identification and structural elucidation of natural and synthesized compounds. Its high sensitivity and the possibility of coupling liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection make it a technique of choice for the investigation of complex mixtures like raw natural extracts. The mass spectrometer is a universal detector that can achieve very high sensitivity and provide information on the molecular mass. More detailed information can be subsequently obtained by resorting to collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry (CID-MS/MS). In this review, the application of mass spectrometric techniques for the identification of natural and synthetic compounds is presented. The gas-phase fragmentation patterns of a series of four natural flavonoid glycosides, three synthesized benzodiazepines and two synthesized quinoxalinone derivatives were investigated using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry techniques. Exact accurate masses were measured using a modorate resolution quadrupole orthogonal time-of-flight QqTOF-MS/MS hybrid mass spectrometer instrument. Confirmation of the molecular masses and the chemical structures of the studied compounds were achieved by exploring the gas-phase breakdown routes of the ionized molecules. This was rationalized by conducting low-energy collision CID-MS/MS analyses (product ion- and precursor ion scans) using a conventional quadrupole hexapole-quadrupole (QhQ) tandem mass spectrometer.