Abstract:
In order to clarify the fragmentation behaviors of Sultamicillin (ampicillin/sulbactam), Sultamicillin was investigated by the electrospray ionization quadrupole time of flight tandem (ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS) mass spectrometry in positive ion mode. The fragmentation pathways were elucidated based on the high-resolution of mass spectrometer and isotope-labelling experiment. It was found that the protonated precursor ion M+H
+ mainly fractured through
β-lactam ring of Ampicillin. The M+Na
+ precursor ion provided more product ions fragmentation by the cleavage of β-lactam, diesters and four-member ring of Sulbactam part. In addition, the loss of neutral molecules such as CO
2, SO
2, CO was occurred readily. The fragmentation experiment of M+H
+ and M+Na
+ precursor ions could provide theoretical knowledge for the rapid identification of structural analysis, metabolites in vivo and degradation products in the environment of Sultamicillin.