Abstract
Chemically synthesized chondrotin di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharides having 4-, 6-mono and 4, 6-disulfates were analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS). The MS analytical method for a slight amount of glycoconjugate was efficient to confirm its structure standing on the different point from NMR method. The sequences of these sulfated chondroitin oligosaccharides, especially the linkage position of the sulfate group, were confirmed by the measurement of the CID-MS/MS. Thus, the CID-MS/MS could distinguish between the 4- and 6-sulfated position on the galactosamine residue by the different fragmentation patterns from the desodiated ion of the common part, disaccharide GalNAcβ1→4G1cA, as a precursor ion. In this report, we demonstrate the possibility of the detection of the binding site of the sulfate group on some kinds of saccharides or glycoconjugates, as a result, we can make structural distinctions between sulfated linkage isomers or sulfated positional isomers using MS.
