INVESTIGATION OF SEVERAL AMINOGLYCOSIDE SOLUTIONS CONTAINING ONE OR MORE COMPONENTS BY POSITIVE ELECTROSPRAY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Solutions containing one or more aminoglycosides have been investigated by positive electrospray mass spectrometry. The lack of extensive fragmentation in the acquired mass spectra permitted reliable identification of the individual components within the electrosprayed solutions. Results obtained at relatively high cone voltage allowed confident assignment of the major fragmentation pathways under electrospray conditions. The presented data also indicate that higher cone voltage favours the observation of sodium adduct ions, [M + Na](+). This experimental observation is tentatively attributed to a less efficient cone-assisted collision-induced dissociation of these species compared to their [M + H](+) counterparts.