Evaluation of conditions for the HPLC determination of plasma amino acids using precolumn derivatization

For the determination of free amino acids in plasma, the conditions for precolumn derivatization of the amino acids and the chromatographic separation were examined. The isoindole products, formed by the reaction of the primary amino acids with orthophthalaldehyde (OPA), were readily separated by RPLC and detected spectrofluorometrically using an excitation wave-length of 300 nm and an emission cut-off filter of 440 nm. Since the sensitivity of this method permits determination of amino acids in the femtomole range, the analysis can be performed on samples as small as 10 μl of filtered plasma or serum. The separation is achieved in approximately 35 minutes with good precision for the majority of the amino acids.     

Precolumn diastereomerization and micellar electrokinetic chromatography on a plastic microchip: rapid chiral analysis of amino acids

Precolumn derivatization and chiral separation of DL-amino acids based on diastereomerization have been performed on an integrated poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchip. Diastereomeric derivatives were formed in a microfabricated precolumn reactor by the reaction of amino acid enantiomers with o-phthaldialdehyde/2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose (OPA/TATG), and separated by MEKC in an achiral environment without chiral selectors in the running buffer. Optimized precolumn reactions and chiral separations of amino acids were achieved within 2.5 min. Resolutions of diastereomers of OPA/TATG-amino acids were in the range of 2.5-6.1 at optimized separation conditions. Simultaneous separation of a mixture of five chiral amino acids was successfully performed in a single run in less than 100 s.     

4,7-phenanthroline-5,6-dione: A new labelling reagent for liquid chromatographic analysis of amino acids

Summary The use of 4,7-phenanthroline-5,6-dione (phanquinone) as a pre-chromatographic reagent for LC analysis of amino acids is proposed. The reagent reacts (30 min at 50°C) with primary amino group and the resulting adducts can be chromatographed under reversed-phase conditions (Phenyl-Hexyl column). The experimental conditions for the derivatization and chromatographic separations are discussed. Application to the determination of several amino acids in pharmaceutical formulations is described.     

New chiral derivatization reagent for the resolution of amino acids as diastereomers by TLC and HPLC

Summary The applicability of a new chiral reagent to the resolution of amino acid enantiomers has been investigated. The new reagent, S(-)-N-1-(2-naphthylsulphonyl)-2-pyrrolidinecarbonyl chloride (NSP-C1), was synthesized by the chlorination of S(-)-N-1-(2-naphthylsulphonyl)-2-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid which was prepared by the reaction of 2-naphthalene sulphonyl chloride with L-proline. Derivatization of the amino acids proceeds rapidly at ambient temperature and no racemization takes place during the reaction. The resolution of the diastereomeric amides was performed by TLC and normal phase HPLC. Complete resolutions were observed for the enantiomers of all amino acids examined except cysteine, cystine and histidine. The favourable UV absorption of the derivatives enabled the optical antipode to be determined down to the 0.1% level.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of amino acids by precolumn derivatization with 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzotrifluoride

This work presents an high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of amino acids after precolumn derivatization with 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzotrifluoride (CNBF) which can readily react with both primary and secondary amines. The precolumn derivatization conditions, including the CNBF concentration, reaction pH, temperature and reaction time were investigated for method optimization. In pH 9.0 borate buffer, the reaction of amino acids with CNBF was carried out at 60 °C for 30 min, the optimized concentration of CNBF was 70 mmol L⁻¹ and the molar ratio of amino acids to CNBF was 1:5.25. The chromatographic separation of 19 amino acids derivatives was performed on a Kromasil ODS C₁₈ column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with good reproducibility, and ultraviolet detection was applied at 260 nm. The mobile phase was a mixture of phase A (acetonitrile) and phase B (acetate buffer, acetonitrile, triethylamine; 82.8:17:0.2, pH 4.9), and the flow rate was 0.4 mL min⁻¹. The separation of all the labeled amino acids was achieved within 45 min at room temperature by gradient elution mode. The method linearity, calculated for each amino acid, had a correlation coefficient higher than 0.9979, in concentrations ranging from 9.60 to 3330.00 μmol L⁻¹. The detection limits of amino acids were 2.40-6.50 μmol L⁻¹, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The proposed method was applied for the determination of amino acids in beer with recoveries of 97.0-103.9% and relative standard deviations of 2.62-4.22%, respectively. This method showed good accuracy and repeatability that can be used for the quantification of amino acids in real samples.     

A fluorous tag-bound fluorescence derivatization reagent, F-trap pyrene, for reagent peak-free HPLC analysis of aliphatic amines

We have developed a novel pre-column fluorescence derivatization reagent for amines, F-trap pyrene. This reagent comprises a fluorescent pyrene moiety, an amine-reactive Marshall linker, and a fluorophilic perfluoroalkyl group known as fluorous tag. When the reagent reacts with aliphatic amines and amino acids to give fluorescent derivatives, the fluorous tag in the reagent is eliminated simultaneously. Therefore, excess unreacted reagents in the derivatization reaction solution still have the fluorous tag and could be removed by fluorous solid-phase extraction selectively before high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. By using this reagent, 13 kinds of aliphatic amine (C₂–C₁₆) derivatives can be separated within 40 min by reversed-phase HPLC with gradient elution. In this chromatogram, unreacted reagents peak at around 28 min, greatly decrease after fluorous solid-phase extraction, and do not interfere with the quantification of each amine. The detection limits (S/N = 3) for examined aliphatic amines are 3.6–25 fmol per 20 μL injection. We have also applied this reagent successfully to the amino acid analysis.

Optimization of resolution in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A comparison of separations conducted in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and SDS modified with Brij 35 indicates that selectivity, in Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC), is governed by the composition of the micellar phase. Beyond selectivity optimization, resolution may be improved by increasing efficiency or decreasing electroosmotic flow. Of these approaches, increasing capillary length (to improve efficiency) should be a more time effective means of improving separation.     

Micellar and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography of hop bitter acids

The elution order of the hop α- and β-acids has been studied under different modes of electrokinetic separation. A model is advanced to explain the shorter migration times of the more hydrophobic β-acids compared to the α-acids in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). For quality control of the bitter principles in hops, the ruggedness of electrokinetic separation could be improved by replacing MEKC by microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC).     

Coupling of sequential injection with liquid chromatography for the automated derivatization and on-line determination of amino acids

The principle of sequential injection (SI) was exploited to develop a fully automated pre-column derivatization procedure combined on-line to liquid chromatography (LC). Using SI-LC derivatization 14 amino acids were determined fluorimetrically in pharmaceuticals with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) as the derivatization reagent. The SI system was used for the handling of samples and reagents, on-line mixing and introduction to the LC injection system. Chemical (pH and reagents concentrations) and instrumental variables (sample and reagent volumes, reaction time and flow rate) were optimized to attain the highest reaction yield and detector signal. Reversed phase chromatographic resolution of 14 amino acids was achieved within 35 min using gradient elution. The automated operation of the coupled SI-LC system resulted in very satisfactory performance. The method was applied for the simultaneous determination of amino acids in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Simple and rapid quantitative determination of lysinoalanine and protein hydrolysate amino acids by high-performance liquid chromatography after derivatization with dansyl chloride

Summary A rapid and simple method for the determination of both lysinoalanine (LAL) and protein hydrolysate amino acids after derivatization with dansyl chloride (5-dimethylaminoaphtalene-1sulfonyl chloride) and separation with RP-HPLC (UV detection) is presented. LAL is analysed in less than 15 minutes and complete separation of 22 amino acids is achieved in less than 30 minutes using single linear gradients of solvents (phosphate buffer and acetonitrile). Quantitative results obtained by HPLC compare well with results of the ion-exchange chromatography (amino acid analyser). The importance of the duration of the derivatization reaction and of the excess of reagent is discussed. As examples, the results of the determination of LAL in two samples of base treated α-casein and 22 samples of soy protein and the results of the analysis of amino acids in two balanced diet mixtures are presented. Presented at the 15th International Symposium on Chromatography, Nürnberg, October 1984     

Analysis of carbamate pesticides by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Capillary elcctrophoresis (CE) was used for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of eleven compounds of the carbamate, thio-carhamate, and dithiocarbamate classes of pesticides. Micellar elec-trokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was employed for the separation of these substances. The analysis was performed using an uncoated fused silica column, in borate buffer containing SDS and 10% methanol at basic pH, and UV detection at 230 nm. The addition of methanol to the buffer increased the separation and affected intrinsic migration of analytes. The working standard solutions were prepared in acetonitrile/water 50:50. Although these compounds are structurally different, with a large spectrum of chemical properties, such as polarity and solubility, good separation and sensitivity were obtained. Moreover, good recovery of car-bamates was obtained from tap-water using a styrene-divinylben-zene polymer column with the solid phase extraction (SPE) technique.     

A micellar electrokinetic chromatography approach using diastereomeric derivatization and a volatile surfactant for the enantioselective separation of selenomethionine

A MEKC methodology with UV detection was developed for the enantioselective separation of selenomethionine (SeMet). The use of (+)‐1‐(9‐fluorenyl)ethyl chloroformate (FLEC) as chiral derivatization reagent to form SeMet diastereomers enabled their subsequent separation using ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO) as a volatile pseudostationary phase. The effect of APFO concentration and pH, temperature, injection volume, and derivatization conditions (time and FLEC/SeMet ratio) were evaluated in order to select the best separation conditions. A chiral resolution of 4.4 for DL‐SeMet was achieved in less than 6 min using 100 mM APFO at pH 8.5 as electrophoretic buffer. Satisfactory results were obtained in terms of linearity, precision (RSD from 3.4 to 5.1% for migration times and from 1.8 to 4.6% for corrected peak areas), accuracy, and LODs (3.1 × 10^?6 M and 3.7 × 10^?6 M for d and l enantiomers, respectively). The method was successfully applied to the determination of l ‐SeMet in food supplements.     

Sensitive analysis of amino acids in injection liquor by reversed-phase HPLC

A convenient derivatization method of amino acids with l-fluoro-2,4-dimtrobenzene as reaction reagent and a separation system were described. The derivative amino acids were separated on a specific chemically bonded phase column with a simple linear gradient elution consisting of aqueous buffer and methanol. The eluate was detected by common ultraviolet absorption detector at 360 nm. The detection limits of amino acids were as low as 10 picomole. This method has been successfully applied to assay amino acid injection liquor used in hospital. It has good repro-ducibility and precision. The procedures avoid the requirements of particular derivative equipment and analyzer employed in conventional amino acid analysis.     

柱前衍生化-超高效液相色谱法快速测定酱油中的18种氨基酸

建立了一种6-氨基喹啉基-N-羟基琥珀酰亚氨基甲酸酯(AQC)柱前衍生,超高效液相色谱(UPLC)对酱油中18种氨基酸进行快速分离检测的方法。采用BEH C18色谱柱分离,在260 nm波长下检测,以乙酸铵-乙酸-乙腈-水和乙腈-乙酸为流动相,将流动相梯度和流速梯度相结合,在12 min内实现了18种氨基酸衍生物的分离。方法的线性回归系数(r2)均大于0.999,检出限为0.032～0.12 mg/L,日间相对标准偏差(RSD)为0.72%～4.05%,在酱油中18种氨基酸的加标回收率为90.2%～103.7%。该方法前处理过程简单,分离时间短,是检测酱油中氨基酸的有效手段,可用于酱油的质量评定。     

High performance liquid chromatography analysis of aliphatic thiols in alimentary supplements and pharmaceuticals using menadione as a new useful derivatization reagent

The use of menadione (MD) as a pre-column reagent for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of aliphatic thiols is proposed. The reaction was carried out for 5 min at room temperature and pH 8.5. The developed method was applied to the N-acetylcysteine (NAC) analysis of alimentary supplements and pharmaceutical formulations. The effect of the complex matrix was evaluated by the study of the thiol derivatization reaction both in standard and in placebo solutions. The yield of NAC-MD adduct was found to be quantitative at a reagent to thiol molar ratio of about 4 in comparison with an authentic specimen of synthesized NAC adduct, which was characterized by ¹H NMR, IR and UV. The routine chromatographic separations were performed on a Synergi MAX-RP column using a mobile phase consisting of methanol/triethylammonium (TEA) phosphate buffer (pH 3; 0.05 mol L⁻¹) 70:30 (v/v) at a flow-rate of 0.4 mL min⁻¹. UV-diode array detection was used setting the wavelength at λ = 260 nm. The validation parameters such as linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, precision, selectivity and ruggedness were found to be highly satisfactory. Similar linear responses were observed by standard and placebo solutions (determination coefficient: 0.9996). Limit of detection was about 0.019 μg g⁻¹. Intra-day precision (relative standard deviation, R.S.D.) was ≤0.81% for NAC to internal standard (IS) peak area ratio, ≤0.28% and ≤0.32%, respectively, for NAC and IS retention times (t_R), without significant differences between intra- and inter-day data. NAC recovery studies gave good results (100.12%) with R.S.D. = 1.05%.     

Stacking, derivatization, and separation by capillary electrophoresis of amino acids from cerebrospinal fluids

This paper describes the in-column derivatization, stacking, and separation of amino acids by CE in conjunction with light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence using naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (NDA). According to the relative electrophoretic mobilities and the migration direction in tetraborate solution (pH 9.3), the injection order is cyanide, then amino acids, then NDA. Once poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) migrates through the capillary under EOF, the amino acid.NDA derivatives, amino acids, and CN- ions migrating against the EOF enter the PEO zone. As a result of increases in viscosity and possible interactions with PEO molecules, the reagents/analytes slow down such that they become stacked at the boundary. In comparison with the off-column approach to the analysis of amino acids, our proposed method provides a lower degree of interference from polymeric NDA compounds and other side products. As a result, the plot of the peak height as a function of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration is linear over the range from 10(-5) to 10(-8) M, with the LOD being 4 nM. We demonstrate the diagnostic potential of this approach for the determination of amino acids, including GABA and glutamine, in biological samples through the analysis of large volumes of cerebral spinal fluids without the need for sample pretreatment.