Highlights

• This study developed a new 5-(diisopropylamino)amylamine (DIAAA) derivatization technique to enhance the sensitivity of carboxyl-containing metabolites (CCMs).
• The technique significantly improved and separation efficiency of CCMs by tuning their polarity, enabling the simultaneous analysis of 68 different CCMs.
• The technique could effectively identify potential metabolic biomarkers in CRC, providing insights into the metabolic variations associated with the disease.

Summary

This research outlines a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method using a new derivatization agent, 5-(diisopropylamino)amylamine (DIAAA), for analyzing carboxyl-containing metabolites (CCMs) crucial in colorectal cancer (CRC). These metabolites, pivotal in several metabolic pathways, pose analytical challenges due to their structural diversity and polarity differences.

The study demonstrated that DIAAA substantially increased sensitivity of CCMs, and more importantly, tuned the polarity of 68 CCMs with diverse structures to achieve efficient separation. This method proved effective in detecting potential biomarkers in CRC, highlighting its utility in probing the metabolome with high precision.

In summary, the DIAAA-derivatization technique offers a significant advancement in the analysis of CCMs, improving both sensitivity and separation efficiency. This approach contributes to cancer research.

X. Bian et al., “Polarity-Tuning Derivatization-LC-MS Approach for Probing Global Carboxyl-Containing Metabolites in Colorectal Cancer,” Anal. Chem., vol. 90, no. 19, pp. 11210–11215, Oct. 2018, doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b01873.