Characterization of N,N-dimethyl amino acids by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.

Methylation is an essential metabolic process for a number of critical reactions in the body. Methyl groups are involved in the healthy function of the body life processes, by conducting methylation process involving specific enzymes. In these processes, various amino acids are methylated, and the occurrence of methylated amino acids in nature is diverse. Nowadays, mass-spectrometric-based identification of small molecules as biomarkers for diseases is a growing research. Although all dimethyl amino acids are metabolically important molecules, mass spectral data are available only for a few of them in the literature. In this study, we report synthesis and characterization of all dimethyl amino acids, by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments on protonated molecules. The MS/MS spectra of all the studied dimethyl amino acids showed preliminary loss of H2O + CO to form corresponding immonium ions. The other product ions in the spectra are highly characteristic of the methyl groups on the nitrogen and side chain of the amino acids. The amino acids, which are isomeric and isobaric with the studied dimethyl amino acids, gave distinctive MS/MS spectra. The study also included MS/MS analysis of immonium ions of dimethyl amino acids that provide information on side chain structure, and it is further tested to determine the N-terminal amino acid of the peptides.

Differentiation of isomeric 2-aryldimethyltetrahydro-5-quinolinones by electron ionization and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

A series of isomeric 2-aryl-6,6-dimethyltetrahydro-5-quinolinones (set I) and 2-aryl-7,7-dimethyltetrahydro-5-quinolinones (set II) were studied under positive ion electron ionization (EI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) techniques. Under EI conditions, the molecular ions were found to be less stable in set I isomers, and they resulted in abundant fragment ions, i.e., [M-CH(3)](+), [M-CO](+.), [M-HCO](+), [M-(CH(3),CO)](+), and [M-(CH(3),CH(2)O)](+), when compared with set II isomers. In addition, the set I isomers showed specific fragment ions corresponding to [M-OH](+) and [M-OCH(3)](+). The retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) product ion was always higher in set II isomers. The ESI mass spectra produced [M + H](+) ions, and their decomposition showed favorable loss of CH(3) radical, CH(4) and C(2)H(6) molecules in set I isomers. The set II isomers, however, showed predominant RDA product ions, and specific loss of H(2)O. The selectivity in EI and ESI was attributed to the instability of set I isomers by the presence of a gem-dimethyl group at the α-position, and it was supported by the data from model compounds without a gem-dimethyl group. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations successfully corroborated the fragmentation pathways for diagnostic ions. This study revealed the effect of a gem-dimethyl group located at the α-position to the carbonyl having aromatic/unsaturated carbon on the other side of the carbonyl group.