Identification of N-gluconyl [corrected] ethanolamine in wine by negative electrospray ionization with post-column chloride attachment and accurate mass determination on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer.
In this study a specific taste modulating flavour-ingredient, N-gluconyl [corrected] ethanolamine, was determined in two Beerenauslese wines using two different LC-MS techniques. For a first screening LC-MS(2) on an ion-trap mass spectrometer with negative electrospray ionization (ESI(-)) was applied. Sensitivity (and selectivity) was successfully increased approx. 10-fold by post-column addition of chloroform to form [M+Cl](-) species. In a second step LC-MS(2) on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer in accurate mass mode confirmed the presence of N-gluconyl [corrected] ethanolamine in wine. The application of the right MS(2) transitions for an unambiguous identification is discussed. N-Gluconyl [corrected] ethanolamine concentrations in the wines were found to be 1.1 and 4.0 microg/l.