LINKAGE DETERMINATION OF ALDITOL DISACCHARIDES USING HIGH-ENERGY COLLISION-INDUCED DISSOCIATION SPECTRA OF SODIUM CATIONIZED MOLECULES

Oligosaccharide alditols containing a deuterium atom at the alditol C- 1 position can be used to obtain information about the masses and link ages of the various residues, The high-energy collision-induced dissoc iation (CID) spectra of the protonated compounds show mainly glycosidi c bond cleavage with charge retention on the alditol containing Y-type ions, The CID spectra of the sodium-cationized compounds show additio nal fragment ions resulting from cross-ring cleavages. Moreover the el imination of methanol, formaldehyde and ethylene glycol molecules, as deuterium labelled or unlabelled species, appeared to provide a reliab le criterion to determine the linkage positions at the alditol unit. ( C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.