ANALYSIS OF CARBOHYDRATES IN MARINE PARTICULATES BY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY AND TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY

The use of a derivatization procedure for the measurement of aldoses b y forming alditol acetates by strong acid hydrolysis is described. Qua ntitative data based on standard mixtures of neutral sugars were obtai ned by capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectr ometry using phenyl-B-D-glucopyranoside as an internal standard. Tande m mass spectrometry was used for the structural elucidation of complex saccharide mixtures. In order to differentiate between alditol acetat es, i.e., hexitols, pentitols and deoxyhexitols, the collision-activat ed reactions m/z 361-->259, 303-->201 and 217-->115 were monitored by the Q sector of a VG-AutospecQ mass spectrometer. The method was appli ed to the study of the composition of polysaccharides in particulate o rganic matter and macroaggregates in the northern Adriatic Sea.