MASS SPECTROMETRY OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC CHALCONES

Since the introduction of mass spectrometry for the routine identification of organic compounds in the 1950s, chalcones have received attention. Having started with electron ionization, novel methods of choices to ionize these analytes now include electrospray ionization and chemical ionization. The latter techniques diminish or even abolish fragmentation after producing protonated molecules, which necessitates the use of tandem mass spectrometry to gain structural information. Through representative analyses of selected chalcones as instructive examples, this chapter presents a methodical overview of recent practices and developments of mass spectrometry for the identification of chalcones.