High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of a naturally occurring xylosyl thioether, 9-[5′-deoxy-5′(methylthio)-β-d-xylofuranosyl]adenine

Abstract A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the separation and purification of 9-[5′-deoxy-5′(methylthio)-β- d -xylofuranosyl]adenine (xylosyl-MTA), a naturally occurring analogue of 5′-deoxy-5′-methylthioadenosine (MTA), has been developed. The compound was purified from perchloric extracts of biological samples by reversed-phase HPLC on an Ultrasil ODS RP-18 column. Isocratic elution resulted in a complete separation between the xylosyl thioether and MTA. The determination of xylosxyl-MTA in the nudibranch mollusc Doris verrucosa was also performed. Its concentration ranged from 330 to 380 nmol/g, considerably exceeding the cellular levels of MTA.