Tandem mass spectrometry linked fraction collection for the isolation of drug metabolites from biological matrices

An automated mass spectrometric linked fraction collection system is descri bed which enables on-line examination of isolated components based on molec ular-ion and product-ion information. This system has been used successfull y to specifically isolate drug-related material from complex biological flu ids to aid structural identification. Metabolites have been isolated with s ufficient purity to allow unequivocal characterisation by H-1 nuclear magne tic resonance spectroscopy. This system has the advantage that isolation of the components of interest is not triggered by a simple contact closure. T herefore fraction collection is not biased by limitations in either the det ector (e,g, insufficient sensitivity) or the analyst (e,g, programmed colle ction of predicted metabolites only). Furthermore, all isolated components are readily available post fractionation for additional screening. Copyrigh t (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.