Direct analysis of microbial extracts containing metabolites of ethylenediamine-type antihistamines via high-performance liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry.

The utility of high-performance liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry (HPLC-TSMS) for the characterization of the ethylenediamine-type antihistamines, pyrilamine, methapyrilene, tripelennamine, and thenyldiamine, and their methylene chloride-extractable microbial metabolites from a biological matrix is demonstrated. Typically, the [M + H]+ ion was detected as the base peak in the TS mass spectra of these compounds. The ethylenediamine-type antihistamine metabolites were detected in an extract of a fungal culture grown in the presence of 5 mg of the antihistamine. A detection limit of 200 ng was observed for the HPLC-TSMS analysis of pyrilamine.