Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) method was developed for identification of nucleosides and bases in extracts of ascidians. For this study a systematic sample preparation associated with the fragmentation pattern of a series of nucleosides and bases using ESI-MS/MS was done. These approaches constitute powerful analytical tools for rapid screening and structural assignment of nucleosides and bases in ascidian extracts.
natural products; ESI-MS/MS; ascidian; nucleosides; glycosylamines
