Linkage analysis of chromophore-labeled disaccharides and linear oligosaccharides by negative ion fast atom bombardment ionization and collisional-induced dissociation with B/E scanning.

Negative ion fast atom bombardment ionization in combination with collisional-induced dissociation mass spectrometry differentiates the linkage position(s) of chromophore-labeled di- and oligosaccharides. The formation of glycosylamines rather than the more popular reductive amination has been used to label the reducing end of sugars with ultraviolet or fluorescence tags. Two types of fragment ions were detected, one with the charge carried on the chromophore end and the other with the charge carried on the nonreducing terminus. These ions are essential to the determination of interglycosidic linkage and they are produced from the ring cleavage of the reducing end monosaccharide. Additionally, the anomeric configuration of the 1-4-linked residue could be assigned according to the relative abundance of the fragment ions.