Fragmentation studies on monensin A by sequential electrospray mass spectrometry

Monensin A was studied by electrospray ionisation sequential mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) and all fragments were confirmed by accurate-mass measurements. Analyses were performed on both a quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-tof) and a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer. MSn analysis shows that depending on sample preparation the ion at m/z 671 consists of two different ions with the same accurate-mass. It is either the monensin protonated parent ion or a different ion structure derived from the loss of water from the water adduct of monensin. Both ions show different fragmentation patterns. Major fragment ions from the protonated parent ion were produced by Grob-Wharton type fragmentations in addition to various simple neutral losses. The fragmentation pathways of the two different m/z 671 ions are proposed.