title: Ion-spray mass spectrometry of marine neurotoxins.
abstract: Ion-spray mass spectrometry was investigated for the analysis of three marine neurotoxins: domoic acid, saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin. All three compounds gave positive-ion spectra with abundant ions of protonated molecules and no significant fragmentation. Domoic acid gave a negative-ion spectrum with a strong [M-H]- ion. Tandem mass spectrometry provided useful fragment-ion spectra for all compounds. Detection limits for flow injection analyses with selected-ion monitoring were determined to be 30 pg for saxitoxin, 100 pg for domoic acid and 200 pg for tetrodotoxin. Combining liquid chromatography with ion-spray mass spectrometry allowed the determination of domoic acid and some of its isomers in toxic shellfish tissue extracts.
authors.affiliation: Atlantic Research Laboratory, National Research Council of Canada, Halifax, N.S.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quilliam
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Siu
mesh_terms: D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D012530:Saxitoxin / Q000032:analysis; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D008387:Marine Toxins; D009498:Neurotoxins; D012530:Saxitoxin; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; C012301:domoic acid; D007608:Kainic Acid