Mass spectrometry of pertrimethylsilyl aldosyl oligosaccharides

The mass spectra of 18 trimethylsilyl disaccharides containing only aldohexoses, connected via all possible linkages (1 -> 1) to (1 -> 6), were compared. These spectra could be divided into three main groups: (1 -> 1) disaccharides, (1 -> 2), (1 -> 3), (1 -> 4) disaccharides and (1 -> 5), (1 -> 6) disaccharides. (1 -> 2), (1 -> 3) and (1 -> 4) disaccharides could be distinguished on the basis of two ratios of peak intensities. (1 -> 5) and (1 -> 6) disaccharides could not be distinguished. Also, the mass spectra of 4 trimethylsilyl trisaccharides built up from aldohexoses only were recorded. The spectra of three aldopentose containing disaccharides showed that the monosaccharide sequence as well as the position of the glycosidic link could be determined