Preparative Separation and Analysis of Complex Mixtures of Leucomycins and Desmycarosyl Leucomycins Using HPLC and Mass Spectrometry

Composition and hydrolysis products of a biotechnical available complex of macrolides were analyzed by HPLC and ESI-CID-MSn. Major components are leucomycin-type antibiotics (leucomycins A1 (5), A7 (3), A9 (2), 9-desoxy-9-oxo-turimycin H3 (4) and niddamycin B (6). Hydrolysis of the complex mixture yielded 9α-, 13β-isoforocidins (7, 8, 9, 11) and 9-oxo-forocidin (10). A preparative separation procedure was elaborated furnishing compounds 3 - 11 for semisynthetic experiments.