Pharmaceutical applications of electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTMS)

Electrospray ionization (ESI) is a soft ionization technique that allows for the transfer of intact molecular ions from the solution phase to the gas phase. The electrospray process is gentle enough to allow for the preservation of non-covalent complexes in solution and transfers these complexes to the gas phase. Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) offers the analytical advantages of high mass accuracy, high mass resolving power (RP), multi-channel detection, and tandem mass spectrometry (MSn) capabilities. Typically, mass analyzers such as quadrupole or ion trap mass spectrometers are used for the analysis of pharmaceuticals, but the use of FTMS is beginning to grow in the pharmaceutical industry. The combination of ESI and FTMS can provide rapid and accurate mass analysis in the drug discovery and development processes. This thesis focuses on analytical applications of ESI-FTMS for the analysis of pharmaceutical compounds The majority of this thesis focuses on non-covalent associations of chemotherapeutic agents detected by ESI-FTMS. Quantitation is an important element in the drug discovery and development processes, and optimization of ESI-FTMS for quantitation is also a subject of this thesis. The work presented in this thesis provides evidence for the utility of ESI-FTMS for the analysis of pharmaceutical compounds.