Analysis of tryptamine at the femtomole level in tissue using negative ion chemical ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

An ultra sensitive method for the detection of tryptamine, an endogenous amine in mammalian neuronal systems, at the femtomole level has been developed using negative chemical ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (NCI-GC-MS). The amine is converted into a perfluorinated spirocyclic derivative, e.g. 1-pentafluoro-2-methylenepyrrolidine-3-spiro-3'-(3H-indole) which is detected using selected-ion monitoring of the (M-2HF) ions of the endogenous and deuterated internal standard compounds. Two mass spectrometers were compared; they gave minimum detectable quantities from tissue samples of 40 pg (VG-7070F) and 0.9 pg (VG-70S) respectively. These detection levels are approximately 5-200 times lower than have been obtained by previous MS methods.