Mass spectrometry of ergot alkaloids

Mass spectrometric methods used for the identification and analyses of ergot alkaloids are surveyed. Attention is paid to characteristic ions and fragmentation schemes for a given series of ergot alkaloids. The use of linked-scan techniques is demonstrated for the distinguishing of isobaric ergopeptines. The potential of the coupled HPLC/MS techniques for the analysis of complex ergot alkaloid mixtures and their metabolites is also briefly mentioned.