Structural analysis of non-volatile compounds by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry: Thermal isomerization of benzylpenicillin in a plasmaspray interface

Isomerization and degradation of benzylpenicillin ((2S,5R,6R)‐3,3‐dimethyl‐7‐oxo‐6‐(2‐phenylacetamido)‐4‐thia‐1‐azabicyclo[3.2.0]heptane‐2‐carboxylic acid) were studied using a combination of PlasmasprayTM (PSP) liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and liquid secondary ion tandem mass spectrometry (LSI MS/MS). Benzylpenicillin was isomerized to benzylpenicillenic acid (3‐mercapto‐N‐[[5‐oxo‐2‐(phenylmethyl)‐4(5H)‐oxazolylidene] methyl] valine) in the PSP interface/ion source. The isomerization was inferred from the probe temperature dependence of PSP LC tandem mass spectra and discrepancies in the daughter ions between PSP LC and LSI tandem mass spectra. High temperature at the PSP interface was responsible for the isomerization, since the difference between PSP LC and LSI tandem mass spectra became smaller as the probe temperature was lowered. It was also found that benzylpenicillin was decomposed to benzylpenilloic acid (5,5‐dimethyl‐2‐[(phenylacetamido)methyl] thiazolidine‐4‐carboxylic acid), N‐(phenylacetyl)glycine, N‐(phenylacetyl)glycinal and 3‐mercaptovaline in the PSP interface/ion source. The degradation products formed in the interface/ion source were identical to those formed in acidic solution. The results show that degradation of penicillins can be investigated by PSP LC/MS and PSP LC/MS/MS.