Characterization of neutral oligosaccharide-alditols from Xenopus laevis egg jelly coats by matrix-assisted laser desorption Fourier transform mass spectrometry.

Neutral oligosaccharides were released by alkaline sodium borohydride reduction of the jelly coating from the South African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis. The oligosaccharides were isolated by HPLC and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)-Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS). The mass spectrometry analysis allowed confirmation of 12 structures first proposed by Strecker et al. using nuclear magnetic resonance. In addition, seven new oligosaccharides with weak abundances were found and characterized by mass spectrometry. A method for discriminating metastable fragments from quasimolecular ions is described. It involves doping the sample with cesium chloride. Cesium-coordinated oligosaccharides do not fragment as readily as those coordinated to sodium. Tandem MS experiments are performed on an unknown oligosaccharide illustrating the potential of MALDI-collision-induced dissociation-FTMS.