Characterization of Echinacea purpurea alkamides under positive electrospray ionization and collision-induced dissociation

摘要

I. A number of targeted and nontargeted polyunsaturated fatty acid alkyl amides along with a new group of compounds, hydroxyalkylamides have been identified in Echinacea tissue extracts using LC-TOF MS. II. Collision induced dissociation of protonated Echinacea alkylamides produce low even-mass fragment ions that are some of the most abundant products. We are exploring whether the yields of these fragments provide useful structural information regarding pi-bond locations. III. Discovery of hydroxyalkamides in Echinacea tissues that have structural similarity to endocannabinoid ligand anandamide reiterates the usefulness of deep metabolite profiling using LC/MS, and opens the door to study the biological activity of these compounds in greater depth.