A COMPARISON OF THE COMBINATION OF FAST-ATOM-BOMBARDMENT WITH TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY AND OF GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH MASS-SPECTROMETRY IN THE ANALYSIS OF A MIXTURE OF KAEMPFEROL, KAEMPFERIDE, LUTEOLIN AND OLEOUROPEIN

Two different approaches, i.e. fast-atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) have been employed for the characterization of a mixture of biologically relevant polyphenols (kaempferide, kaempferol, luteolin and oleouropein). The best results have been achieved by the first approach which allows an easy structural identification of the different compounds, also in the presence of isomers. GC/MS of the trimethylsilyl derivatives leads to a complex chromatogram due to the presence of derivatives exhibiting a different level of silylation; the only species related to oleouropein are due to pyrolysis products (silylated fragments of sugars) and there is no evidence for the related silylated aglycone.