Abstract
The fragmentation of 58 N-trimethylsilyl amino acid trimethylsilyl esters, including those of α-, β-, γ-, and α-methyl-amino acids and related compounds, upon electron impact was investigated to provide a spectral basis for further studies of physiological samples, and to look into the possibility of selective identification and ultramicrodetermination of amino acids by mass fragmentography. It was found that the ion at m/e 73 or m/e (M-117) is the base peak common to most of the amino acids. The results obtained in this study suggest that this derivative can be used for the ultramicrodetermination and selective identification of amino acids by mass fragmentography because this derivative produces characteristic ions such as m/e (M-117), (M-15), 174, 218 and 232. The fragmentations of N-trimethylsilyl n-butyl esters and N-trimethylsiyl l-methyl esters of six amino acids were also studied.
