Fragmentation Pathways of Polycyclic Polyisoprenylated Benzophenones and Degradation Profile of Nemorosone by Multiple-Stage Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Nemorosone is a polycyclic polyisoprenylated benzophenone (PPBs) with strong cytotoxic activity. It is the major constituent of Clusia rosea floral resin and brown Cuban propolis. Other PPBs found in Cuban propolis are oxidized and cyclized derivatives of nemorosone. The instability of PPBs carrying an enolizable 1,3-diketone system has been suggested, and the elucidation of this aspect is very fundamental for the evaluation of their biologic activity. Electrospray ionization multistage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) was employed to shed light on the origin of these derivatives of nemorosone and to define the stability of this natural product. For this purpose, we initially performed MS…