Identifi cation of Compound Classes Using the Filter Results by Fragments Feature of Agilent MassHunter Software

Identifi cation of unknown compounds in complex mixtures is always a challenging task. Tools that can simplify the data would be highly useful to researchers dealing with complex biological samples. The Filter results by fragments feature in Agilent MassHunter Qualitative Analysis software is one such example of data simplifi cation. It helps to fi lter the data based on the fragment mass or neutral loss of interest. Some lipids and metabolites form fragment ions that are diagnostic of a particular class of compounds1. For example, phosphatidylethanolamines (PE) show a neutral loss of 141 Da in their MS/MS spectra in positive mode. Prostaglandins show a neutral loss of 100 Da. Ceramides show a characteristic fragment ion at m/z 264, and phosphocholine-containing lipids show a diagnostic peak at m/z 184. Using the Filter results by fragments option, the presence or absence of prostaglandins/PE or any similar compound class can be identifi ed more quickly than the conventional way of compound search across the chromatogram.