FAST-ATOM-BOMBARDMENT AND ELECTROSPRAY-IONIZATION TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY OF SULFATED LEWIS(X) TRISACCHARIDES

Structural characterization of mono-, di-, and trisulfated trisacchari des by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and electrospray ionization (ESI) m ass spectrometry is described. Both FAB and ESI collision-induced diss ociation tandem mass spectrometry (CID-MS/MS) of sulfated trisaccharid es allowed identification of the sulfated sugar and provided informati on on the saccharide chain sequence, The ESI CID-MS/MS of multiple-cha rged ions provided even more structural information, and some of the u seful daughter ions appeared in the higher mass region than the precur sor owing to a lower charge-state. These methodologies can be applied to the structural analyses of glycoconjugates with much larger molecul ar masses and higher polarity, such as the poly-sulfated analogs.