Simultaneous, Fast Analysis of Melamine and Analogues in Pharmaceutical Components Using Q Exactive - Benchtop Orbitrap LC-MS/MS Kate Comstock, Tim Stratton, Hongxia (Jessica) Wang, and Yingying Huang Thermo Fisher Scientific, San Jose, CA USA
Overview Purpose: Demonstrate a simple workflow for the simultaneous analysis of melamine and analogues in pharmaceutical components using a Q Exactive benchtop Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Method: A sensitive, simple and robust method employing high resolution mass spectrometry coupled with UHPLC and HILIC mode chromatographic separation. Results: Simultaneous detection and quantification of melamine and its analogues in Albumin and Guar gum were achieved with a high degree of confidence. Introduction Potential drug contamination by melamine and its analogues remains a major concern of the FDA. 1 Currently, the FDA requires that the method used should be suitable for detecting melamine contamination in at-risk components down to at least.5 parts per million to give a high degree of assurance that they are not contaminated. 1 We present a workflow for simultaneous detection, confirmation, and quantification of melamine and its analogues: ammeline, ammelide, and cyanuric acid (shown in Figure 1) in at-risk pharmaceutical components Albumin and Guar gum. 1 A Thermo Scientific Q Exactive benchtop Orbitrap mass spectrometer coupled with Thermo Scientific Dionex Ultimate 3 RS UHPLC system were employed in this study. Figure 1. Structures of Melamine and Analogue OH H HO HO OH HO OH Melamine C 3 H 6 6 (M+H) + 17.77 Ammeline C 3 H 5 5 O 1 (M+H) + 18.567 Ammelide C 3 H 4 4 O (M+H) + 19.47 Cyanuric Acid C 3 H 3 3 O 3 (M-H) 18.1 Methods Material and Reagents Melamine CAS # 18-78-1, Ammelide CAS# 645-93-, Ammeline CAS# 645-9-1, and Cyanuric acid CAS#18-8-5, purchased from ChromaDex Inc. California. Albumin CAS# 948-46-8, Sigma-Aldrich, p/n A796. Guar CSA# 9-3-, Sigma-Aldrich, p/n G419. Acetonitrile and Water, Fisher. Ammonium Acetate, Sigma-Aldrich, p/n 73594-5G-F. Acetic Acid, Sigma-Aldrich, p/n A683-1L. Sample Preparation Individual stock solutions of melamine, cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide were prepared at 1. mg/ml. Melamine and cyanuric acid were dissolved in water. Ammeline and ammelide were dissolved in ammonium hydroxide. Standard mixture of 1ng/mL, 1µg/mL and 1 µg/ml were used to prepare neat and matrix calibration standards. eat standard calibration eat standard mixtures were prepared by serial dilution of 1 µg/ml standard mixture using 3:1 acetonitrile/water to final concentration of.5, 1.5,.5, 5, 1.5 and 5 ppb, which are equivalent to.5,.5,.5, 1.,.5 to 5 µg/g of standard mixture in 5 mg/ml matrix solution. Extracted matrix calibration standards preparation Extracted matrix calibration standards were prepared at.5,.5,.5, 1.,.5, and 5 level by adding standard mixtures to 5 mg/ml Albumin and Guar solutions as shown in Table 1. Matrix effects and percent recoveries were determined by spiking neat solutions into 5 mg/ml Albumin and Guar solutions. The sample preparation flowchart is shown in Figure. Simultaneous, Fast Analysis of Melamine and Analogues in Pharmaceutical Components Using Q Exactive - Benchtop Orbitrap LC-MS/MS
Table 1. Matrix Calibration Standard Preparation FIGURE. Sample Preparation Flowchart Guar Weigh 1 mg Guar, add 5mL Acetonitrile, vortex for 3 sec. Albumin Weigh 1 mg Albumin, Dissolve totally in 5mL water, then vortex mix. Add 5 ml water to make a final concentration of 1 mg/ml. Sonicate for 1 min., then add 1ml AC. Vortex mix for 1 min. After settling, transfer top solution to Eppendorf tubes. Add 15 ml AC, the final concentration is 5mg/mL, then vortex mix 1 minute. Prepare matrix calibration standards (table 1) and control, vortex mix 3 sec. Prepare matrix calibration standards (table 1) and control, vortex mix 3 sec. Place vials in -3 o C freezer for 3 minutes, then centrifuge at 17 g for 3 min. Place vials in -3 o C freezer for 3 minutes, then centrifuge at 17 g for 3 min. Transfer the supernatant to -ml vials for injection. Transfer 5 µl supernatant, lyophilize to dryness, reconstitute to 5 µl using AC:HO 3:1, vortex mix. Place in -3 o C freezer for 3 min. Centrifuge at 17 g for 3 min. Transfer the supernatant to -ml vials for injection. Liquid Chromatography UHPLC Ultimate 3 RS system consisting of : DGP-3RS pump WPS-3RS sampler TCC-3RS column compartment LC Conditions: Thermo Scientific Accucore HILIC Column 1x3 particle (µ).6 Thermo Scientific p/n 1756-133 Guard cartridge: Accucore HILIC 1x3. mm.6 µm Thermo Scientific p/n 1756-135 Mobile Phase A: Water Mobile Phase B: Acetonitrile Mobile Phase C: 1 mm Ammonium Acetate, adjusted to ph 5 using Acetic acid LC program: Isocratic 9% B 1% C for 5.5 minutes Flow rate:.5 ml/min. Column Temp: 35 o C Injection Volume: 5 µl Mass Spectrometry Q Exactive high resolution benchtop Orbitrap MS Ion source conditions: Ionization mode: alternating positive/negative ESI Ion source: HESI-II Sheath gas flow rate: 45 units Auxiliary gas flow rate: 1 units Spray voltage (KV):+3.5 for positive, -3.4 for negative Capillary temp ( o C): 3 S-lens RF level: 5. Heater temp ( o C): 4 Thermo Scientific Poster ote P63566_E 6/1S 3
Q Exactive Method Parameters Full MS / dd-ms² with polarity switching Resolution: full scan 7, FWHW; dd-ms² 35, FWHW (at m/z ) AGC target: 1e6 Scan Range (Full MS): 13 to 133 amu FIGURE 3. Full Scan and MS/MS Spectra of.5 Melamine in 5 mg/ml Albumin with sub Error. a) Full Scan A+ isotope pattern at 7K show separation of 15 and 13 C 18.758 15 13 C 18.697 18.814 Experimental 1 17.77 C 3 H 7 6.336 R e l a tiv e A b u n d a n c e 8 6 4 18.697 18.761 15 13 C 6 18.7 18.8 m/z Theoretical 18.758 16.8988 17.356 17.111 17.1836 17.464 18.6 18.1431 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 17. 17.1 17. 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 18. 18.1 18. 18.3 m/z 1 b) dd-ms H 85.513 C H5 4-1.334 Signature Fragment Ion R e la t iv e A b u n d a n c e 8 6 H 4 68.5 17.76 H H 6.564 11.463 5 55 6 65 7 75 8 85 9 95 1 15 11 115 1 15 13 135 14 145 15 FIGURE 4. Extracted Ion Chromatogram of Albumin Fortified with Melamine and Related Compounds at.5 µg/g level m/z 4 Simultaneous, Fast Analysis of Melamine and Analogues in Pharmaceutical Components Using Q Exactive - Benchtop Orbitrap LC-MS/MS
t m/z ) FIGURE 5. Calibration Curves of eat Mix Standards (.5 to 5, linear fit) FIGURE 6. Calibration Curves of Albumin Fortified with Melamine and Related Compounds from.5 to 5 (linear fit) Melamine Y = 1.37689e+6+.1199e+7*X R^ =.993 W: 1/X 1 8 6 4 1 3 4 5 CynuricAcid Y = -41.45+558333*X R^ =.9938 W: 1/X 3 5 15 1 5 1 3 4 5 Ammeline Y = -749953+.35655e+7*X R^ =.999 W: 1/X 1 1 8 6 4 1 3 4 5 Ammelide Y = 639.6+588956*X R^ =.9919 W: 1/X 3 5 15 1 5 1 3 4 5 FIGURE 7. Calibration Curve of Guar Gum Fortified with Melamine and Related Compounds, Quadratic fit * melamine Y = 3368+.74119e+7*X-1.644e+6*X^ R^ =.999 W: Equal 1 8 6 4 Cyanuric_Acid Y = 19974+1.6775e+6*X-14693*X^ R^ =.999 W: Equal 5 4 3 1 1 3 4 5 Ammeline Y = -858359+3.3954e+7*X-3.487e+6*X^ R^ =.9986 W: Equal 7 1 3 4 5 Ammelide Y = 15497+.8986e+6*X-185363*X^ R^ =.9989 W: Equal 1 References 6 5 4 3 1..5 1. 1.5..5 8 6 4 1 3 4 5 * Melamine and Ammelide have 6 point calibration curves in the ranges of.5 to 5. Cyanuric acid and Ammeline have 5 point calibration curves in the ranges of.5 to 5 and.5 to.5, respectively. 1.US FDA Guidance for industry: Ph Contamination.US FDA LIB 441 Melamine and C October 8 Thermo Scientific Poster ote P63566_E 6/1S 5
Results Confident detection and quantification of melamine and its analogues were achieved using HR/AM full scan and ms/ms in a data-dependent fashion with polarity switching. HR/AM full scan data at 7, resolution (FWHM) were utilized for quantitation, the high quality full scan spectra have sub- mass accuracy with external calibration and fine isotopic pattern of A+ isotope ion on 13 C and 15 for positive identification (see figure 3 a), which ensure accurate detection and quantification of ions of interest in the presence of complicated matrices. High resolution accurate mass measurement of signature product ions were utilized for confirmation of melamine and its analogues (see figure 3 b). Isocratic LC separation was conducted using an Accucore HILIC column. Reproducible baseline separations were obtained within 5 minutes. Excellent sensitivity and selectivity were obtained by the HR/AM. The signal to noise ratio at 5 ppb level was 7 for cyanuric acid and 191 for melamine which exceed FDA specification (S/ > 5:1 for ions of quantification) (see figure 4). The analyses of albumin fortified with melamine and analogues have good linearity with six-point calibration curves over the range from 5 ppb to 5 with excellent linear regression coefficients (r >.99), (see figure 6). For the analyses of guar gum fortified with melamine and analogues, melamine and ammelide have acceptable quadratic fit for six-point calibration curves over the range from 5 ppb to 5 with regression coefficients (r >.99), and for cyanuric acid and ammeline, five-point quadratic fit calibration curves were obtained over the range from.5 to 5 (cyanuric acid) and.5 to.5 (ammeline), both with good regression coefficients (r >.99), (see figure 7). Compared to commonly used triple quadrupole MS methods, this workflow is simple to set up and allows added post-analysis capability. It avoids the upfront selection of specific compound masses required for SRM methods. This method provides simultaneous detection and quantification of melamine, ammeline and ammelide at 5 ppb level, and 5 ppb level for cyanuric acid, which is well below the FDA current requirement (.5 ). Conclusion Simultaneous determination, confirmation, and quantitation of melamine and its analogues in at-risk pharmaceutical components Albumin and Guar gum were achieved. This was accomplished by using a complete Thermo Scientific solution, consisting of a high resolution Q Exactive benchtop Orbitrap mass spectrometer, Ultimate 3RS UHPLC system, and Accucore HILIC column. This UHPLC- HRMS MS/MS method is simple, fast, and robust. The combination of HR/AM narrow range full scan and dd-ms provides rapid, confident identification and quantification. Further experiments will be carried out to investigate the potential for screening of melamine and its analogues in other at-risk pharmaceutical components using this workflow. In addition, with appropriate sample preparation in place, this HR/AM full scan and dd-ms method can be utilized for trace amount material identification, confirmation, and quantitation in other applications. References 1.US FDA Guidance for industry: Pharmaceutical Components at Risk for Melamine Contamination.US FDA LIB 441 Melamine and Cyanuric Acid Residues in Infant Formula October 8 All other trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiaries. This information is not intended to encourage use of these products in any manners that might infringe the intellectual property rights of others. 6 Simultaneous, Fast Analysis of Melamine and Analogues in Pharmaceutical Components Using Q Exactive - Benchtop Orbitrap LC-MS/MS
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