Letter: steric effects in electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry of 11betanitrates of estrane series.

The fragmentation of [M+Na](+) ions produced from steroid 11beta-nitrates during electrospray/ionization (ESI) was studied by using ion trap MS/MS technique. The [M+Na](+) ions eliminate NO(2) and HNO(3) for epimers bearing 9beta and 9alpha substituents, respectively. As the main fragmentation pathways are determined mainly by the configuration at C-9 and alternative fragmentation does not practically occur, this offers the possibility for the determination of the configuration at chiral C-9 centre in the estrane 11beta-nitrate series by ESI mass spectrometry.