Preparation, identification and analysis of stereoisomeric anti-benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide–deoxyguanosine adducts using phenyl liquid chromatography with diode array, fluorescence and tandem mass spectrometry detection

Benzo[a]pyrene, a common environmental pollutant, can be metabolized into reactive anti-benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (anti-BPDE), which predominantly binds to deoxyguanine in DNA and forms four stereoisomeric adducts. To characterize the stereochemistry of these adduct isomers, preparation of single adducted deoxyguanosine (dG) is required for efficient enantiomeric analysis. Here, we demonstrate an improved method for preparation, identification, and analysis of four BPDE-adducted dGs, including (+)-trans-, (−)-trans-, (+)-cis-, and (−)-cis-anti-BPDE-N2-dG. These stereoisomerically adducted nucleosides were first synthesized by a direct reaction of (±)-anti-BPDE with dG, followed by optimized solid-phase extraction (SPE) and HPLC purification. The reaction of (±)-anti-BPDE and dG displayed a yield as high as 45%. The developed preparation method does not require any enzymatic digestion. Based on highly efficient separation achieved by optimization of stationary phase and mobile phase, LC-UV–MS/MS and LC-diode array detection (DAD)-fluorescence detection (FL) methods were established for characterization and analysis of the four stereoisomeric anti-BPDE-dGs. The established LC-DAD-FL method may provide characterization and analysis of four stereoisomeric anti-BPDE-dGs and two interfering anti-BPDE tetrols by taking advantage of their distinct fluorescence quenching.