title: Guest-to-host proton transfer in melatonin-beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complex by ionspray, fast atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Ionspray (IS) and fast atom bombardment (FAB) positive ionization mass spectrometry (MS) of 1 : 1 beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD)-melatonin (MLT) host-guest complex allowed the detection of gaseous protonated 1 : 1 beta-CD-MLT. Tandem MS collision-induced dissociation (CID) of such protonated 1 : 1 beta-CD-MLT species showed the proton (charge) to be retained to a significant extent by the host and by its cage fragmentation products, in spite of the higher proton affinity of MLT with respect to that of beta-CD. This requires an endothermic guest-to-host proton transfer to occur within the gaseous association. Collisional activation could be accounted for by the promotion of such an endothermic process; however, the proton affinity decrease of the guest determined by the loss of the elements of acetamide, which is a dominant MS dissociation reaction of pure protonated MLT, could also provide a rationale for such an endothermic guest-to-host proton transfer. This proposal parallels the reaction scheme we had previously formulated for the analogous MS and tandem MS behaviour of 1 : 1 beta-CD-5-methoxytryptamine inclusion complex with the protonated 5-methoxytryptamine guest undergoing deamination.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie Farmaceutiche and Rete di Spettrometria di Massa del CNR, Via Archirafi 32, I-90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bongiorno
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ceraulo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mele
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Panzeri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selva
authors.forename: V T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Liveri
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003505:Cyclodextrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008550:Melatonin / Q000737:chemistry*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D016339:Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins
chemical_list: D003505:Cyclodextrins; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins; D008550:Melatonin; C031215:betadex