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Updated: Sep 30, 2026

Using a Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometer for Tandem Ion Mobility Experiments
Published on: January 20, 2022
Structural characterization of steroidal saponins by electrospray ionization and fast-atom bombardment tandem mass
Feng Liang1, Li-jun Li, Zeper Abliz
1Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
Abstract:
The structural characterization of four steroidal saponin compounds involving two and three sugar groups, namely spirostanol saponins and furostanol saponins, were investigated by positive ion fast-atom bombardment (FAB), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) techniques. Important structural information was obtained from collision-induced dissociation (CID) and FAB-MS spectra with different liquid matrices. It was found that a characteristic fragmentation involving the loss of 144 Da arising from the cleavage of the E-ring was observed when there was no sugar chain at the C-26 position. When a glucoside group was substituted at the C-26 position, this C-26 sugar moiety was preferentially eliminated. All of these compounds produced a major product ion with a stable skeleton structure at m/z 255. The results of this paper can assist structural analysis of mixtures of steroidal saponins.
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