To investigate the possibility of structural assignment based on negative-ion MS n spectral matching, four isomers of 2-aminopyridine-derivatized (PA) monosialylated oligosaccharides (i.e., complex type N-glycans with an α2-3 or α2-6 linked sialic acid on α1-6 or α1-3 antennae) were analyzed by using high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry
(HPLC/ESI-IT-TOF MS). The negative ion [M-2H]2-is observed dominantly in the MS 1 spectra without the loss of a sialic acid. The MS 2 spectra derived from it are sufficiently reproducible that MS 2 spectral matching based on correlation coefficients can be applied to the assignment of these isomers. The isomers containing a sialic acid on α1-6 or α1-3 antennae can be distinguished by MS 2 spectral matching, but the α2-3 and α2-6 linkage types of sialic acid cannot be distinguished by their MS 2 spectra. However, MS 3 spectra derived from fragment ions containing a sialic acid (i.e., C 4 -and D-type ions) clearly differentiate the α2-3 and α2-6 linkage types of sialic acid in their MS 3 spectral patterns.This difference might be rationalized in terms of a proton transfer from the reducing-end mannose to the negatively-charged sialic acid. These two moieties are very close in the structural conformations of the precursor C 4 -type fragment ions, as predicted by molecular mechanics calculations. Thus, negative-ion MS n (n=2, 3) spectral matching was proven to be useful for the structural assignment of these four monosialylated PA N-glycan isomers.3