Neutral losses

Constant neutral loss (or fixed neutral fragment) scans. The linked scan at constant B[1 -(E/Eg)] /E gives a spectrum of all product (daughter) ions that have been formed by loss of a preselected neutral fragment from any precursor (parent) ions. 

The most common modes of operation for ms/ms systems include daughter scan, parent ion scan, neutral loss scan, and selected reaction monitoring. The mode chosen depends on the information required. Stmctural identification is generally obtained using daughter or parent ion scan. The mass analyzers commonly used in tandem systems include quadmpole, magnetic-sector, electric-sector, time-of-flight, and ion cyclotron resonance. Some instmments add a third analyzer such as the triple quadmpole ms (27). 

Maximum benefit from Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry will be obtained if the user is aware of the information contained in the book. That is, Part I should be read to gain a practical understanding of GC/MS technology. In Part II, the reader will discover the nature of the material contained in each chapter. GC conditions for separating specific compounds are found under the appropriate chapter headings. The compounds for each GC separation are listed in order of elution, but more important, conditions that are likely to separate similar compound types are shown. Part II also contains information on derivatization, as well as on mass spectral interpretation for derivatized and underivatized compounds. Part III, combined with information from a library search, provides a list of ion masses and neutral losses for interpreting unknown compounds. The appendices in Part IV contain a wealth of information of value to the practice of GC and MS. 

The book is divided into four parts. Part I, The Fundamentals of GC/MS, includes practical discussions on GC/MS, interpretation of mass spectra, and quantitative GC/MS. Part II, GC Conditions, Derivatization, and Mass Spectral Interpretation of Specific Compound Types, contains chapters for a variety of compounds, such as acids, amines, and common contaminants. Also included are GC conditions, methods for derivatization, and discussions of mass spectral interpretation with examples. Part III, Ions for Determining Unknown Structures, is a correlation of observed masses and neutral losses with suggested structures as an aid to mass spectral interpretation. Part IV, Appendices, contains procedures for derivatization, tips on GC operation, troubleshooting for GC and MS, and other information which are useful to the GC/MS user. Parts I to III also contain references that either provide additional information on a subject or provide information about subjects not covered in this book. 

Examine fragment ions to determine the mass of the neutral fragments that were lost from the molecular ion, even though these high-mass peaks may be of low abundances. Compare the neutral loss from the molecular ion with the neutral losses tabulated in Part III to see if these losses agree with the suspected structural type. 

Even though a good fit is not obtained, the library search may indicate the structural type. Review the characteristic fragment pathways of the suspected structural type in Part II of this book, and check Part III to determine if the ions observed and neutral losses correspond to the suggested structural type. 

Neutral Loss Only a limited number of neutral fragments of low mass which are eliminated in decompositions of molecular ions. Examples are H, H2, CH3 and OH. Therefore, the presence of a major ion below the molecular ion at an improbable interval (eg, loss of 4 to 14, 21 to 25 amu) will indicate that the latter is not the molecular ion Postulation of Molecular Structures The. postulation of the structure of an unknown molecule is based on several major kinds of general structural information available in the mass spectmm. McLafferty (Ref 63) suggests the following systematic approach ... 

These rearrangement reactions may also occur in MS-MS instruments and the constant-neutral-loss scan enables the analyst to observe all of the ions in the mass spectrum that fragment with a particular mass loss and therefore contain a specific structural feature. This knowledge can be of great value when attempting to interpret the mass spectrum of an unknown material. 

A reported method for the screening for transformation products of a number of pesticides [16] provides an elegant example of the complementary nature of the product-ion, precursor-ion and constant-neutral-loss scans (see Section 3.4.2 above). 

The TIC trace from the LC-MS analysis of an extracted river water sample, spiked with 3 p.g dm of atrazine and three of its degradation products, is shown in Figure 3.30. The presence of significant levels of background makes confirmation of the presence of any materials related to atrazine very difficult. The TIC traces from the constant-neutral-loss scan for 42 Da and the precursor-ion scan for m/z 68 are shown in Figure 3.31 and allow the signals from the target compounds to be located readily. 

Further information on each of these components can then be obtained by examining the mass spectra at the positions of the TIC maxima in the traces. The spectra from the two components marked OH and DBA in the constant-neutral-loss (CNF) TIC trace (Figure 3.31(a)) are shown in Figure 3.32. The molecular weights of the... 

Figure 3.31 TIC traces for (a) a constant-neutral-loss scan of 42 Da, and (b) a pre-cursor-ion m/z 68 scan, obtained from the LC-MS analysis of a mixture of atrazine and its degradation products. Reprinted from J. Chromatogr., A, 915, Steen, R. J. C. A., Bobeldijk, I. and Brinkman, U. A. Th., Screening for transformation products of pesticides using tandem mass spectrometric scan modes , 129-137, Copyright (2001), with permission from Elsevier Science.

The implications of charge must also be considered when constant-neutral-loss spectra are obtained because no longer is the loss necessarily of a neutral species. 

Figure 5.27 Selective detection of lactolated peptides from a tryptic digest of / -lacto-globulins by LC-electrospray-MS-MS, showing (a) the total-ion-cnrrent trace in full-scan mode, and (b) the total-ion-current trace in neutral-loss-scanning mode. Figure from Selective detection of lactolated peptides in hydrolysates by liquid chromatography/ electrospray tandem mass spectrometry , by Molle, D., Morgan, F., BouhaUab, S. and Leonil, J., in Analytical Biochemistry, Volume 259, 152-161, Copyright 1998, Elsevier Science (USA), reproduced with permission from the publisher.

Constant-neutral-loss scan An MS-MS scan in which ions containing a particular structural feature may be identified. 

Tian, Q. et al., Screening for anthocyanins using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with precursor-ion analysis, product-ion analysis, common-neutral-loss analysis, and selected reaction monitoring, J. Chromatogr. A, 1091, 72, 2005. 

Not all tandem MS experiments are possible (no neutral loss experiments)... 

Neutral-loss Scanning m/z = x Scanning m/z = x — a MSI and MS2 are scanning at a fixed m/z difference to monitor compounds that lose a common neutral species (screening)... 

Heller, D. N. Murphy, C. M. Cotter, R. I Fenselau, C. Uy, O. M. Constant neutral loss scanning for the characterization of bacterial phospholipids desorbed by fast atom bombardment. Anal. Chem. 1988,60,2787-2791. 

S. Kazuno, M. Yanagida, N. Shindo and K. Murayama, Mass spectrometric identification and quantification of glycosyl flavonoids, including dihydrochalcones with neutral loss scan mode, Anal. Biochem., 347, 182 192 (2005). 

The main MS/MS techniques are precursor ion, product ion, and neutral loss. In addition, it is possible to carry out MSn experiments using an ion trap (Kang and others 2007). In this context, de Rijke and others (2003) carried out a study with 15 flavonoids, comparing different ionization sources and different analyzers. Among the results, the authors showed that the main fragmentations observed in the MS spectra on the ion trap, or the tandem MS spectra on the triple-quadrupole, were generally the same. 

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