Electrochemistry and LC-MS for Metabolite Generation and Identification: Tools, Technologies and Trends

Lohmann W, Baumann A, Karst U

Abstract

The elucidation of oxidative metabolism reactions is a crucial point in drug development. Generally, in vivo or in vitro experiments with liver microsomes or hepatocytes are performed. A complementary purely instrumental method is presented in this article. In an electrochemical (EC) flow-through cell, the oxidative metabolism of xenobiotics is simulated. The cell is used in an on-line set-up with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS), so that a separation with subsequent detection and identification of the metabolites is possible. The article provides an introduction to this new approach. The instrumental set-up is presented and selected applications of electrochemical liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (EC-LC-MS) in drug development processes are discussed.