A generic approach for expanding homolog-targeted residue screening of sulfonamides using a fast matrix separation and class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a hybrid quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer

Abstract

A generic and efficient homolog-targeted approach was used to expand screening and detection of target class of sulfonamides and structural analogs, based on a fast single-tube extraction/partitioning-multifunction adsorption cleanup (SEP/MAC) for class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a liquid chromatography-hybrid triple-quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LC-QqLIT). By combining the two-stage process conducted in a single tube as one-pot protocol, the straightforward SEP/MAC procedure was optimized to offer clean extracts with reasonable recovery (71-109% with RSDs<20%) and decreased matrix interferences (-9 to 19%) of multiresidual sulfonamide extraction from different tissue samples. The novel use of neutral loss scan of 66 Da (NLS) or precursor ion scanning of m/z 108 (PreS) in positive ion mode was found to achieve more comprehensive coverage of protonated molecular ions of a wide array of sulfonamides including N(4)-acetyl and hydroxylamine metabolites plus their possible dimers. Moreover, the PreS-triggered automatically enhanced product ion spectral acquisition enabled simultaneous screening, profiling and confirmation of an unlimited number of analytes belonging to the sulfonamide class within a single analysis. The validation and application results of the generic SEP/MAC-based LC-QqLIT strategy consistently demonstrated favorable performances with acceptable accuracy (67-116%), precision (RSDs<25%), and sensitivity (LOQs ≤ 7.5 ng g(-1)) to meet the acceptance criteria for all the sulfonamide-tissue combinations. Thus, the integration of the matrix-independent SEP/MAC procedure and the multiparameter matching algorithm with the unit-resolution LC-QqLIT instrument can serve as a valuable semi-targeted discovery strategy for rapid screening and reliable quantitative/confirmatory analysis of real samples.