Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kagawa Campus, Tokushima Bunri University, 1314-1 Shido, Sanuki, Kagawa, 769-2193, Japan.
Anal Sci. 2021 Jan 10;37(1):167-175. doi: 10.2116/analsci.20SAR07. Epub 2020 Oct 30.
The crystalline sponge (CS) method was developed as an X-ray crystallographic molecular structure analysis method that can be performed without the need for crystallization of the analyte. CS has strong molecular-recognition properties and a highly flexible framework. The amount of analyte can be reduced to a sub-milligram level. These features of the crystalline nano-space allow for determining the absolute structure of a trace analyte. In this review, we focus on the discovery of the CS method and its applications to biosynthetic products in combination with NMR spectroscopy. We also describe some examples of the CS method that are used mainly in combination with mass spectrometry (MS). Both approaches demonstrate the potential of microanalysis to determine the molecular structure of an unknown sample. Finally, we mention the use of a crystalline "nano-surface" rather than a crystalline nano-space in MS, which can detect small metabolites as well as post-translation biomolecules.
结晶海绵（CS）方法是作为一种 X 射线晶体学分子结构分析方法而开发的，无需对分析物进行结晶。CS 具有很强的分子识别特性和高度灵活的框架。分析物的量可以减少到亚毫克水平。这些结晶纳米空间的特征使得痕量分析物的绝对结构得以确定。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍 CS 方法的发现及其与 NMR 光谱相结合在生物合成产物中的应用。我们还描述了一些主要与质谱（MS）结合使用的 CS 方法的例子。这两种方法都展示了微分析确定未知样品分子结构的潜力。最后，我们提到了在 MS 中使用结晶“纳米表面”而不是结晶纳米空间的情况，这可以检测到小代谢物以及翻译后生物分子。
