The complete structural elucidation of complex lipids, including glycerophospholipids, using only mass spectrometry represents a major challenge to contemporary analytical technologies. Here, we demonstrate that product ions arising from the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the [M + Na](+) adduct ions of phospholipids can be isolated and subjected to subsequent gas-phase ozonolysis - known as ozone-induced dissociation (OzID) - in a linear ion-trap mass spectrometer. The resulting CID/OzID experiment yields abundant product ions that are characteristic of the acyl substitution on the glycerol backbone (i.e., sn-position). This approach is shown to differentiate sn-positional isomers, such as the regioisomeric phosphatidylcholine pair of PC 16:0/18:1 and PC 18:1/16:0. Importantly, CID/OzID provides a sensitive diagnostic for the existence of an isomeric mixture in a given sample. This is of very high value for the analysis of tissue extracts since CID/OzID analyses can reveal changes in the relative abundance of isomeric constituents even within different tissues from the same animal. Finally, we demonstrate the ability to assign carbon-carbon double bond positions to individual acyl chains at specific backbone positions by adding subsequent CID and/or OzID steps to the workflow and that this can be achieved in a single step using a hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer. This unique approach represents the most complete and specific structural analysis of lipids by mass spectrometry demonstrated to date and is a significant step towards comprehensive top-down lipidomics.

This article is available online at http://www.jlr.org glycerophospholipids (GPs). Numerous accounts have examined the role of GPs in cellular biochemistries including membrane permeability, protein aggregation, and receptor activation ( 1-6 ). MS is a powerful tool for GP structure elucidation and is commonly used in contemporary lipidomics studies in complex biological extracts. MS/MS that uses collision-induced dissociation (CID) is central to most protocols in modern lipidomics and can identify headgroup class, acyl chain length, and degree of acyl chain unsaturation ( 7-11 ). However, there are numerous important structural features of GPs that are not easily discerned by CID, including identifi cation of carbon-carbon double bond position(s), the stereochemistry of carboncarbon double bonds, and the position of substitution of each acyl chain on the glycerol backbone (i.e., sn -position) ( 9, 12, 13 ). The inability to discriminate between snpositional isomers, or even to unequivocally exclude the presence of both isomers, is an impediment to our understanding of the roles of these distinct molecular structures in biological systems.Recent reports point to specifi c arrangements of acyl chains in GPs being responsible for structural interactions that induce specifi c activity. This has been noted particularly in the interactions of GPs toward nuclear receptor proteins. For example, Liu et al. ( 14 )

Current atmospheric models underestimate the production of organic acids in the troposphere. We report a detailed kinetic model of the photochemistry of acetaldehyde (ethanal) under tropospheric conditions. The rate constants are benchmarked to collision-free experiments, where extensive photo-isomerization is observed upon irradiation with actinic ultraviolet radiation (310 to 330 nanometers). The model quantitatively reproduces the experiments and shows unequivocally that keto-enol photo-tautomerization, forming vinyl alcohol (ethenol), is the crucial first step. When collisions at atmospheric pressure are included, the model quantitatively reproduces previously reported quantum yields for photodissociation at all pressures and wavelengths. The model also predicts that 21 ± 4% of the initially excited acetaldehyde forms stable vinyl alcohol, a known precursor to organic acid formation, which may help to account for the production of organic acids in the troposphere.

. Ozone-induced dissociation of conjugated lipids reveals significant reaction rate enhancements and characteristic odd-electron product ions. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 24 (2), 286-296.Ozone-induced dissociation of conjugated lipids reveals significant reaction rate enhancements and characteristic odd-electron product ions AbstractOzone-induced dissociation (OzID) is an alternative ion activation method that relies on the gas phase ionmolecule reaction between a mass-selected target ion and ozone in an ion trap mass spectrometer. Herein, we evaluated the performance of OzID for both the structural elucidation and selective detection of conjugated carbon-carbon double bond motifs within lipids. The relative reactivity trends for [M + X]+ ions (where X = Li, Na, K) formed via electrospray ionization (ESI) of conjugated versus nonconjugated fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were examined using two different OzID-enabled linear ion-trap mass spectrometers. Compared with nonconjugated analogues, FAMEs derived from conjugated linoleic acids were found to react up to 200 times faster and to yield characteristic radical cations. The significantly enhanced reactivity of conjugated isomers means that OzID product ions can be observed without invoking a reaction delay in the experimental sequence (i.e., trapping of ions in the presence of ozone is not required). This possibility has been exploited to undertake neutral-loss scans on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer targeting characteristic OzID transitions. Such analyses reveal the presence of conjugated double bonds in lipids extracted from selected foodstuffs. Finally, by benchmarking of the absolute ozone concentration inside the ion trap, second order rate constants for the gas phase reactions between unsaturated organic ions and ozone were obtained. These results demonstrate a significant influence of the adducting metal on reaction rate constants in the fashion Li > Na > K. second order rate constants for the gas phase reactions between unsaturated organic ions and ozone were obtained. These results demonstrate a significant influence of the adducting metal on reaction rate constants in the fashion Li > Na > K.3

The dynamics of the photodissociation of CH(3)CHO into CH(3) + HCO products have been investigated at energies between 30,953 and 31,771 cm(-1), spanning the threshold for radical production on the triplet (T(1)) surface. A barrierless pathway to CH(3) + HCO radical products formed on the ground state (S(0)) surface was discovered and established to be an important reaction channel in acetaldehyde photodissociation throughout this wavelength range. HCO laser induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra recorded from CH(3)CHO dissociated above and below the T(1) barrier energy are quite different; HCO produced on S(0) yields a more congested LIF spectrum with sharp rotational transitions, while HCO formed on the T(1) surface displays fewer, more intense, Doppler-broadened lines. These differences have been further explored in the populations of the HCO K(a) = 1 doublets. Despite the upper and lower levels being almost isoenergetic, HCO formed on T(1) preferentially populates the upper K(c) state due to the geometry of the T(1) transition state structure. In contrast, HCO formed on S(0) produces equal population in each of the upper and lower K(a) = 1 components. Product state distributions (PSDs) showed that HCO formed on S(0) is born with an approximately statistical distribution of population in the available product states, modeled well by phase space theory. HCO formed on the T(1) surface, in contrast, has a PSD that can be characterized as arising from "impulsive" dynamics. Previous discrepancies in the height of the T(1) barrier are discussed following the observation that, once the T(1) channel is energetically accessible, there is competition between the S(0) and T(1) pathways, with the dominance of the triplet channel increasing with increasing photolysis energy.