Contribution of mass spectrometric techniques to the structure elucidation of antibiotic GE2270A, a novel inhibitor of bacterial protein synthesis

Abstract GE2270A is a novel antibiotic active against Gram‐positive bacteria and anaerobes. Its structure originates from a peptidic backbone, the amino acids of which have been modified to produce a macrocycle and a side‐chain. It contains a heterocyclic chrornophonc system, a number of thiazoleamino acids and three unmodified natural amino acids. The structure [relative molecular mass (RMM) 1289] was determined using various spectroscopic techniques, of which fast atom bombardment mess spectrometry, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometry and fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry played an important role. The mass spectrometric approach was applied to the intact molecule and to the various hydrolysis products, including the chromophoric part (RMM 634).