standards and solvents
were purchased from various sources. Multiple compounds were purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO), including acetaminophen,
hydrate),
homoserine, and n-butylamine. The solvents deuterium
oxide (D2O) (99.9%), acetic acid (98%), methanol (Optima
LC–MS grad), water (Optima LC–MS grade), and ammonium
acetate (98.6%) were purchased from Fisher Chemical (New Jersey, NJ).
All standards were utilized without further purification.
For
positive-ion-mode experiments, standard solutions of concentration
0.01 mg·mL–1 in 100 mM ammonium acetate buffer
solution were prepared. The buffer solution was reduced to a pH of
4.75 by the addition of acetic acid. For negative-ion-mode experiments,
standard solutions of concentration 0.01 mg·mL–1 in pure water were prepared. For experiments employing internal
standards of homoserine and n-butylamine, concentrations of standards
were also set at 0.01 mg·mL–1.