Identification of drug metabolites in biological matrices by intelligent automated liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid and systematic strategy for the identification of drug metabolites in biological matrices based on liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) techniques was utilized for the identification of drug metabolites of the HIV protease inhibitor Indinavir. This strategy integrates intelligent real-time mass spectrometry with HPLC detection and a predictive strategy for detecting metabolites arising from common biotransformations, to rapidly elucidate structures of drug metabolites. Structures of metabolites generated from in vitro incubation mixtures of Indinavir were characterized from a single chromatographic analysis using the automated LC/MS/MS methodology, thus reducing data acquisition time and improving efficiency. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.