Multicomponent quantification of diastereomeric hexosamine monosaccharides using ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid means of stereochemical differentiation and quantification for the hexosamine monosaccharides was achieved using electrospray ionization quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry. The hexosamine monosaccharides, glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine, were derivatized with [Co(DAP)2Cl2]Cl, and the complex [Co(DAP)2(HexNH2)]Cl was generated. Subjecting this complex to collision-induced dissociation provided a unique product ion spectrum for each of the diastereomeric monosaccharide complexes, thus differentiating the stereoisomers. Furthermore, the stereoisomers were quantified. This was achieved by using the relative abundances of product ions from pure standards and using these values to determine the ratio of isomeric products in a mixture. The utility of this quantification method was demonstrated by successfully determining the composition of two- and three-component mixtures of the hexosamines.