Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry of the two main antimalarial drugs: Artemether and lumefantrine

Abstract

Electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode and high resolution and high accuracy tandem mass spectrometry performed in a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer were used to investigate the dissociation chemistry of the intact molecules of two most widely used antimalarial drugs: artemether and lumefantrine. The dissociation pathways of their cationized and protonated forms were rationalized based on high accuracy mass measurements and isotopic distributions. The obtained results should benefit LC-MS/MS monitoring and quantitation by mass spectrometry of the artemether and lumefantrine molecules, as well as of new derivatives or other structurally related antimalarial drugs. © 2012 Sociedade Brasileira de Química.