Ion-spray mass spectrometry of marine neurotoxins

Ion-spray mass spectrometry was investigated for the analysis of three marine neurotoxins: domoic acid, saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin. All three compounds gave positive-ion spectra with abundant ions of protonated molecules and no significant fragmentation. Domoic acid gave a negative-ion spectrum with a strong [M-H]- ion. Tandem mass spectrometry provided useful fragment-ion spectra for all compounds. Detection limits for flow injection analyses with selected-ion monitoring were determined to be 30 pg for saxitoxin, 100 pg for domoic acid and 200 pg for tetrodotoxin. Combining liquid chromatography with ion-spray mass spectrometry allowed the determination of domoic acid and some of its isomers in toxic shellfish tissue extracts.