ENHANCEMENT OF MASS-SPECTROMETRIC DETECTION OF LTC4, LTD4, AND LTE4 BY DERIVATIZATION

Several acylating reagents are synthesized and used to introduce quate rnary phosphonium or ammonium or ternary sulfonium functions into a si mple model of a peptido leukotriene (PLT). One of these reagents was s elected for further study with LTE4, LTD4, and LTC4. We demonstrate th at acylation of the free amine function of PLTs to produce the 5-triph enyl-phosphoniumvaleryl-amide (TPPV) derivatives enhances chemical sta bilities and significantly increases responses in fast-atom bombardmen t and continuous-flow liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (CF-LSIMS ) relative to the native PLTs. With high-performance liquid chromatogr aphy inlet to CF-LSIMS, we demonstrate the facile detection in selecte d ion monitoring of the TPPV derivative of 3 pg of LTD4.