Analysis of candidate anticancer drugs by thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to confirm the identity of five bulk anticancer drugs, and in some cases, to identify drug impurities. Analysis resulted in both molecular weight and structural (fragment ions) information obtained from the full scan spectra of as little as 50 ng of each drug. The technique was also used to evaluate the chromatographic specificity of corresponding ultraviolet or refractive index high-performance liquid chromatographic detection in the presence of drug degradation products.