Characterization of doxylamine and pyrilamine metabolites via thermospray/mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry.

Analysis of doxylamine N-oxide and pyrilamine N-oxide as synthetic standards and biologically derived metabolites by thermospray mass spectrometry (TSP/MS) provided [M + H]+ ions for each metabolite. TSP/tandem mass spectrometry (TSP/MS/MS) of the [M + H]+ ions provided fragment ions characteristic of these metabolites. In addition, TSP mass spectrometry and TSP/MS/MS analysis of ring-hydroxylated N-desmethyldoxylamine, N-desmethylpyrilamine and O-dealkylated pyrilamine is also reported. A fragmentation pathway for analysis by MS/MS of pyrilamine and its metabolites is also proposed. The results demonstrate the utility of TSP/MS for biologically derived metabolites of pyrilamine and doxylamine.