Universal quantification of structurally diverse natural products using an evaporative light scattering detector

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Natural Product Chemistry

Background:

• Accurate absolute quantification of natural products is crucial for high-throughput screening but limited by current methods.
• Existing techniques are often slow, lack sensitivity, or are incompatible with the structural diversity of natural products.
• Evaporative light scattering detectors (ELSDs) traditionally offer relative quantification and detect compounds lacking UV chromophores.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish and validate the use of low-temperature evaporative light scattering detectors (ELSD-LT) for absolute quantification of natural products.
• To overcome limitations of existing quantification methods in natural product research.
• To improve the accuracy and efficiency of high-throughput screening of natural product libraries.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of ELSD-LT for absolute quantification.
• Construction of calibration curves using weighted least-squares analysis for diverse natural products and compounds.
• Optimization of ELSD-LT hardware and operational parameters.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated successful absolute quantification of a diverse range of natural products using ELSD-LT.
• Developed an average calibration curve for potential "universal" quantification of natural products.
• Achieved improved sensitivity and throughput through hardware and parameter optimization.

Conclusions:

• ELSD-LT is a viable and effective tool for the absolute quantification of natural products.
• The optimized ELSD-LT method enhances the accuracy and efficiency of natural product library screening.
• This advancement addresses a critical need in natural product research and drug discovery.