Separation and characterization of multicomponent peptide mixtures by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry - Application to crude products of the synthesis of leuprolide

Leuprolide is a synthetic structural analogue of luteinizing hormone-releas ing hormone used for the treatment of a large number of diseases related wi th the regulation of sexual hormones. Solid-phase peptide synthesis is used to obtain leuprolide peptidic hormone, but this synthetic procedure result s in complex mixtures that need separation and characterization. Here, liqu id chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry using electrospray ionizat ion, (LC-ES-MS), was used for the separation and characterization of multic omponent peptide mixtures of crudes of synthesis of leuprolide. To optimize the LC separation process, the method of linear solvation energy relations hips was applied and the powerful coupling LC-ES-MS permitted rapid and rel iable characterization of the reaction product. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.