CHARACTERIZATION OF N-ETHOXYCARBONYL ETHYL-ESTERS OF AMINO-ACIDS BY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Derivatization of amino acids by using ethyl chloroformate-ethanol-pyr idine provides volatile products, N-ethoxycarbonyl amino acid ethyl es ters (ECEEs), which are easily amenable to GC or GC-MS analysis. MS be havior of these compounds under electron-impact has been studied. The fragments observed in the spectra facilitate recognition of commonly o ccurring protein amino acids and characterization of unknown analogues .