Electron ionization mass spectral fragmentation of deoxynivalenol and related tricothecenes

• Published in: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry Vol. 16; no. 19; pp. 1827 - 1835
• Main Authors: Rodrigues-Fo, Edson, Mirocha, C. J., Xie, Weiping, Krick, Thomas P., Martinelli, J. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-01-2002
• Subjects: Brazil; Fusarium - chemistry; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Mycotoxins - analysis; Trichothecenes - analysis; Trimethylsilyl Compounds - chemistry; Triticum - microbiology; Brazil
• ISSN: 0951-4198; 1097-0231
• DOI: 10.1002/rcm.796

Careful analysis of the electron impact (EI) mass spectral data obtained for the trimethylsilyl (TMS) ethers of known trichothecene mycotoxins of the deoxynivalenol group permitted the construction of a database useful for the identification of these mycotoxins directly from a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) run. Structures of the ions at m/z 103, 117, 147 and 191 were elucidated by high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and a fragmentation scheme was suggested. The relative abundances of these ions in the mass spectra of the trichothecenes allowed a fast structural diagnosis during analysis of biological matrices. A new mycotoxin of this group, 3‐acetylnivalenol, was tentatively identified by using MS data interpretation only. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.