Chapter 9: Structural Analysis of Lipids Using Advanced Tandem MS Methods

Lipids are among the four categories of biomolecules, and their structural diversity is closely related to lipid functions and fundamental biology. This chapter aims to give a brief overview of the recently developed mass spectrometry (MS) methods for comprehensive lipid characterization, in particular the localization of carbon–carbon double bonds (CC) in a variety of lipid classes, using novel ion activation and chemical derivatization approaches. Together, these methodological advancements have brought lipid analysis to an unprecedented level of structural detail, thereby laying the foundation for the study of lipid biology and relevant biomedical applications.