Charged Chiral Derivatization for Enantioselective Imaging of D-, L-2-hydroxyglutaric acid Using Ion Mobility Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry

A newly synthesized charged chiral tag enabled enantioselective imaging of D-, L-2-hydroxyglutaric acid, which are independently associated with the regulation of DNA methylation. The tag-conjugated diastereomers were ionized efficiently through MALDI, separated by ion mobility spectrometry, and further separated from other molecules in mass spectrometry. On-tissue chiral derivatization using the tag facilitated the visualization of different distributions of the two isomers in the mouse testis.