Electron capture dissociation studies of the fragmentation patterns of doubly protonated and mixed protonated-sodiated peptoids.

The fragmentation patterns of a group of doubly protonated ([P + 2H]2+) and mixed protonated-sodiated ([P + H + Na]2+) peptide-mimicking oligomers, known as peptoids, have been studied using electron capturing dissociation (ECD) tandem mass spectrometry techniques. For all the peptoids studied, the primary backbone fragmentation occurred at the N-Cα bonds. The N-terminal fragment ions, the C-ions (protonated) and the C′-ions (sodiated) were observed universally for all the peptoids regardless of the types of charge carrier. The C-terminal ions varied depending on the type of charge carrier. The doubly protonated peptoids with at least one basic residue located at a position other than the N-terminus fragmented by producing the Z•-series of ions. In addition, most doubly protonated peptoids also produced the Y-series of ions with notable abundances. The mixed protonated-sodiated peptoids fragmented by yielding the Z•′-series of ions in addition to the C′-series. Chelation between the sodium cation and the amide groups of the peptoid chain might be an important factor that could stabilize both the N-terminal and the C-terminal fragment ions. Regardless of the types of the charge carrier, one notable fragmentation for all the peptoids was the elimination of a benzylic radical from the odd-electron positive ions of the protonated peptoids ([P + 2H]•+) and the sodiated peptoids ([P + H + Na]•+). The study showed potential utility of using the ECD technique for sequencing of peptoid libraries generated by combinatorial chemistry.