Application of Fast Atom Bombardment Collision-induced Dissociation Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Structural identification of Glycerolipids Isolated From Marine Sponge

Two types of glycerolipids [monoacylglycerols (MAG) and cyclitols] were isolated by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography from the methanol extracts of a marine sponge, and analyzed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) in positive-ion mode. FAB mass spectra of these compounds yielded protonated molecules $[M + H]^+$ and abundant sodiated molecules $[M + Na]^+$ from a mixture of 3-nitrobenzyl alcohol and NaI. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by FAB-collisional-induced dissociation (CID)-tandem mass spectrometry. We carried out collision-indused dissociation (CID) of these lipids in B/E-linked scan mode. The CID B/E-linked scan of $[M + H]^+$ and $[M + Na]^+$ precursor ions resulted in the formation of numerous characteristic product ions through a series of dissociative processes. The product ions formed by charge-remote fragmentation (CRF) provided important information for the identification of the acyl chain structure substituted at the glycerol backbone. Some of the product the ions were diagnostic for the presence of a glycerol backbone or acyl chain structure.