Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of novel antineoplastic curcumin analogues

Abstract

The fragmentation behavior of two antineoplastic curcumin analogues with a structural backbone of 1,5-diaryl-3-oxo-1,4-pentadiene was studied using ESI-MS/MS. Tandem mass spectrometric analysis confi rmed their molecular structure and identifi ed their diagnostic product ions that will be used for qualitative and quantitative applications. Two curcumin analogues (designated as NC2067 and NC2081) have been studied using a triple quadrupole linear ion trap hybrid mass spectrometer (Qq-LIT-MS). It was observed that the two compounds behave in the same manner during MS/MS analysis. The fragmentation of the 3,5-bis(benzylidene)- 4-piperidone was mainly based on cleavage within the 4-piperidone ring. However, the side chain fragmentation was mainly observed on the carbon-nitrogen and carbon- oxygen bonds. Based on this behavior, a general fragmentation pattern has been established.