Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) lipids are important components of cell membranes and biochemical pathways of fatty acid synthesis that contain abundant polyunsaturated fatty acyl (PUFA) groups. Oxidation of these phospholipids may be linked to various human diseases. DMABA NHS ester is a reagent that reacts with the primary amine group of PE lipids. This facilitates the use of electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for the detection of diacyl, ether, and plasmalogen PE lipids that cannot be readily observed otherwise. DMABA NHS ester has been used in combination with DMABA NHS ester-d4, -d6, and -d10 to study relative changes in PE lipid abundance before and after radical oxidation.
