Tools and workflow for structure elucidation of drug degradation products

•A structure-elucidation strategy and workflow for drug-degradation products.•Drug-degradation prediction with in-silico, in-cerebro and database tools.•Mass spectrometry (mass accuracy, mass resolution, isotope patterns, H/D exchange).•A general approach to sample isolation and enrichment.•Discussion of NMR, high-sensitivity NMR, and NMR-coupled techniques.

Drug degradation prediction, chemical-based experiments, isolation and structure-elucidation techniques are all tools used to develop drug candidates. Structure elucidation often requires isolation, degradation chemistry, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This article gives an overview of these state-of-the-art technologies being utilized in industry and how they are integrated in a workflow to facilitate structure determination of drug degradation products.