Structural analysis of triacylglycerols by using a MALDI-TOF/TOF system with monoisotopic precursor selection.

A new MALDI-TOF/TOF system with monoisotopic precursor selection was applied to the analysis of triacylglycerols in an olive oil sample. Monoisotopic precursor selection made it possible to obtain product-ion mass spectra without interference from species that differed by a single double bond. Complete structure determination of all triacylglycerols, including structural isomers, was made possible by interpreting the charge-remote fragmentation resulting from high-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the sodiated triacylglycerols.