Determination of the PDE-5 inhibitors and their analogues by GC-MS and TMS derivatization

Abstract

Eighteen of the PDE-5 inhibitors and their analogues were analyzed using GC-EI-MS. Fourteen of them could be identified by simple GC-MS method without derivatization, but hydroxyhongdenafil, hydroxyvardenafil, xanthoanthrafil and mirodenafil could not be identified without derivatization for the high polarity due to the presence of hydroxyl groups. N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA), widely used trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatizing reagents, were used to improve the sensitivity of the hydroxylated analogues. And the analytes could be identified by GC-MS after the derivatization.