Synthesis of benzofurazan derivatization reagents for short chain carboxylic acids in liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS).

Benzofurazan derivatization reagents, 4-[2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethylaminosulfonyl]-7-(2-aminopentylamino)-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (DAABD-AP) and 4-[2-(N,N-dimethylamino) ethylaminosulfonyl]-7-(2-aminobutylamino)-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (DAABD-AB), for short-chain carboxylic acids in liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) were synthesized. These reagents reacted with short chain carboxylic acids in the presence of the condensation reagents at 60 degrees C for 60 min. The generated derivatives were separated on the reversed-phase column and detected by ESI-MS/MS with the detection limits of 0.1-0.12 pmol on column. Upon collision-induced dissociation, a single and intense product ion at m/z 151 was observed. These results indicated that DAABD-AP and DAABD-AB are suitable as the derivatization reagents in LC/ESI-MS/MS analysis.