Quantitative Chiral Analysis of Sugars by Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry Using Modified Amino Acids as Chiral Reference Compounds

Rapid quantitative enantiomeric analysis of mannose, glucose, galactose, and ribose is achieved using electrospray ionization and cluster ion dissociation with data analysis by the kinetic method. Several modified amino acids (N-Ac-L-Phe, N-benzoyl-L-Phe, N-t-Boc-L-Phe, N-Ac-L-Pro, N-t-Boc-L-Pro, N-Fmoc-L-Pro, N-Ac-L-Tyr, O-Me-L-Tyr) and four transition divalent metal cations (Co2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+) were tested to select the best system for chiral recognition and quantitation of each sugar. Quantitative determinations of the enantiomeric compositions of sugar solutions were achieved using either multiple- or two-point calibration curves; differences between the actual and experimental values were <2% enantiomeric excess (ee).