Viscosalines B(1,2) and E(1,2): challenging new 3-alkyl pyridinium alkaloids from the marine sponge Haliclona viscosa.

Four new 3-alkyl pyridinium alkaloids, the viscosalines B(1) (1 a), B(2) (1 b), E(1) (2 a), and E(2) (2 b), were isolated from the Arctic sponge Haliclona viscosa. The structure elucidation of these isomeric compounds was challenging due to ambiguous fragments that derive during "standard" mass spectrometric fragmentation experiments. The final structure elucidation relied on the use of a combination of synthesis, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Three different mass spectrometers were used to differentiate between the synthetic structural isomers: a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer and two ion-trap mass spectrometers with different ion-transfer technologies (i.e., skimmer versus funnel optics). Although at first none of the spectrometers returned spectra that permitted structure elucidation, all three mass spectrometers provided analysis that successfully differentiated between the isomers after thorough method optimization. The use of in-source collision-induced dissociation (CID) with the ion trap and TOF instrument returned the most interesting results. The mode of fragmentation of the viscosalines under different experimental conditions is described herein. After successful optimization of the mass spectrometric method applied, the chromatographic method was improved to distinguish the previously inseparable isomers. Finally, both the liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric methods were applied to the natural products and the results compared to those from the synthetic compounds.