Alternative Procedure for Charged Derivatization to Enhance Detection Responses of Steroids in Electrospray Ionization-MS

Abstract

A derivatization procedure has been examined to enhance the electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS detectabilities of steroids that charged derivatization is not suitable for. The derivatization procedure with 2-hydrazinopyridine or isonicotinoyl azide was very effective for the sensitive detection of di-oxosteroids or di-hydroxysteroids, respectively, and the detection limits of the resulting derivatives were as low as about 2 fmol. The derivatives also provided intense characteristic product ions in the MS–MS, which are expected to be usable for the selected reaction monitoring mode.