Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Identification and Quantification of Deranged Metabolites in Critically Ill Patients Using NMR-Based Metabolomics
Published on: November 29, 2024
Quantification of phenolic acid metabolites in humans by LC-MS: a structural and targeted metabolomics approach
Mark E Obrenovich1,2,3,4, Curtis J Donskey5,6, Isaac T Schiefer4
1Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
Aim:
Co-metabolism between a human host and the gastrointestinal microbiota generates many small phenolic molecules such as 3-hydroxy-3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid (3,3-HPHPA), which are reported to be elevated in schizophrenia and autism. Characterization of these chemicals, however, has been limited by analytic challenges.
Methodology/Results:
We applied HPLC to separate and quantify over 50 analytes, including multiple structural isomers of 3,3-HPHPA in human cerebrospinal fluid, serum and urine. Confirmation of identity was provided by NMR, by MS and other detection methods. The highly selective methods support rapid quantification of multiple metabolites and exhibit superior chromatographic behavior.
Conclusion:
An improved ultra-HPLC-MS/MS and structural approaches can accurately quantify 3,3-HPHPA and related analytes in human biological matrices.
More Related Videos
14:39Semi-Targeted Ultra-High-Performance Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Phenolic Metabolites in Plasma of Elderly Adults
Published on: April 22, 2022
11:39Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 9, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Structure and Nomenclature of Alcohols and Phenols
Alcohols are one of the most important functional groups in organic chemistry. The name of alcohol comes from the hydrocarbon from which it is derived. Alcohols are organic molecules containing the functional hydroxyl or –OH group directly bonded to carbon. Phenols have an OH group directly attached to a benzene ring. While alcohols are colorless, phenol is a white crystalline compound with a characteristic "hospital smell" odor.
As with other organic compounds, alcohols and...
Acidity and Basicity of Alcohols and Phenols
Acid Strength and Molecular Structure
In the absence of any leveling effect, the acid strength of binary compounds of hydrogen with nonmetals (A) increases as the H-A bond strength decreases down a group in the periodic table. For group 17, the order of increasing acidity is HF < HCl < HBr < HI. Likewise, for group 16, the order of increasing acid strength is H2O < H2S < H2Se < H2Te. Across a row in the periodic table, the acid strength of binary hydrogen compounds increases with increasing...
Nucleic Acid Structure
DNA Structure
DNA...
Molecular Structure and Acidity
The size effect explains the change in atomic size on acidity. When comparing the acids formed from elements that belong to the same column in the periodic table, their atomic sizes...
Structures of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
Carboxylic acid derivatives contain an acyl group attached to a heteroatom such as chlorine, oxygen, or nitrogen. The carbonyl carbon and oxygen are both sp2-hybridized with an unhybridized p orbital.
The three sp2 orbitals of the carbonyl carbon form three σ bonds, one each with the carbonyl oxygen, the α carbon, and the heteroatom, whereas the other two sp2 orbitals of the carbonyl oxygen are occupied by the lone pairs. Further, the unhybridized p...