NEGATIVE-ION FAST-ATOM-BOMBARDMENT AND TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF PHENYLPROPANOID GLYCOSIDES ISOLATED FROM POLYGONUM-PENSYLVANICUM L

Investigation of the novel phenylpropanoid sucrose esters vanicoside A , vanicoside B and hydropiperoside, derived from Polygonum pensylvanic um L., by negative-ion fast atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrome try has elucidated collision-induced decomposition pathways and identi fied common trends of fragmentation for this class of compounds. The c onstant neutral loss spectrum of the crude extract of P. pensylvanicum , monitoring the loss of a p-coumaryl ketene fragment, can be used to identify homologues in the mixture for further investigation. This inf ormation can be used to characterize mixtures of this type of compound without the need for derivatization and prior to chromatographic sepa ration, providing a method for guiding the isolation of similar compou nds from crude extracts of other plants in the Polygonaceae family.