Determination of pyridine and adenine nucleotide metabolites in Bacillus subtilis cell extract by sweeping borate complexation capillary electrophoresis

With a growing interest in new areas of bioanalytical research such as metabolome analysis, the development of sensitive capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods to analyze sub-microM concentrations of analytes in biological samples is required. In this report, the application of CE with sweeping by borate complexation is used to analyze a group of seven pyridine and adenine nucleotide metabolites derived from bacteria Bacillus subtilis cell extracts. Nanomolar (nM) detectability of analytes by CE with UV photometric detection is achieved through effective focusing of large sample plug (approximately 10% of capillary length) using sweeping by borate complexation method, reflected by a limit of detections (S/N = 3) of about 2 x 10(-8) M. Changes in metabolites concentrations were observed in cell extracts when using either glucose or malate as the carbon source in the culture medium. Concentration of pyridine and adenine nucleotides in cell extracts varied widely from 78.6 (+/-7.6) microM for nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide in malate to 0.66 (+/-0.12) microM for nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate in glucose culture medium. Concentrations of metabolites in a single cell were also estimated at millimolar (mM) level. The method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity and reproducibility. The application of CE by sweeping borate complexation allows for sensitive and reproducible analyses of nucleotide metabolites in complex biological samples such as bacteria cell extracts.     

A facile and sensitive chemiluminescence detection of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic separation

It was found that native amino acids enhanced the chemiluminescence (CL) reaction between luminol and BrO(-) in an alkaline aqueous solution. This has led to the development of a facile and highly sensitive CL detection scheme for the determination of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic (CE) separation. The CE-CL conditions were optimized. An electrophoretic buffer of 2.5 x 10(-2) M sodium borate (pH 9.4) containing 1 x 10(-4) M luminol was used. The oxidizer solution of 8 x 10(-4) M NaBrO in 0.1 M sodium carbonate buffer solution (pH 12.5) was introduced post-column. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits were 1.0 x 10(-7) M for glutamic acid (Glu) and 1.3 x 10(-7) M (S/N = 3) for aspartic acid (Asp). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of peak area and migration time were in the ranges of 3.8-4.3% and 1.4-1.6%, respectively. The present method was applied to the determination of excitatory amino acids (i.e., Asp and Glu) in rat brain tissue and monkey plasma. The levels of these major excitatory amino acids in monkey plasma were quantified for the first time and found to be 1.17 +/- 0.17 x 10(-5) M (mean +/- SD, n = 6) for Glu and 1.64 +/- 0.19 x 10(-6) M for Asp, which were comparable with the levels in human plasma.     

Silica nanoparticles for separation of biologically active amines by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced native fluorescence detection

This paper describes the analysis of biologically active amines by capillary electrophoresis (CE) in conjunction with laser-induced native fluorescence detection. In order to simultaneously analyze amines and acids as well as to achieve high sensitivity, 10 mM formic acid solutions (pH < 4.0) containing silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) were chosen as the background electrolytes. With increasing SiNP concentration, the migration times for seven analytes decrease as a result of increase in electroosmotic flow (EOF) and decrease in their electrophoretic mobilities against EOF. A small EOF generated at pH 3.0 reveals adsorption of SiNPs on the deactivated capillary wall. The decreases in electrophoretic mobilities with increasing SiNP concentration up to 0.3x indicate the interactions between the analytes and the SiNPs. Having a great sensitivity (the limits of detection at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 3 of 0.09 nM for tryptamine (TA)), high efficiency, and excellent reproducibility (less than 2.4% of the migration times), this developed method has been applied to the analysis of urinal samples with the concentrations of 0.50 +/- 0.02 microM, 0.49 +/- 0.04 microM, and 74 +/- 2 microM for TA, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and tryptophan, respectively. The successful examples demonstrated in this study open up a possibility of using functional nanoparticles for the separation of different analytes by CE.     

Determination of γ‐hydroxybutyric acid in saliva by capillary electrophoresis coupled with contactless conductivity and indirect UV absorbance detectors

The aim of the current study was to optimise and validate the methodology for determination of γ‐hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in saliva by CE combined with a contactless conductivity detector (C⁴D) and indirect UV absorbance detection (λ_ABS = 210 nm). The optimized BGE, consisting of 8.5 mM maleic acid, 17 mM arginine, 255 μM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and 15% acetonitrile, was evaluated for the separation of GHB in saliva within 6 min. The performance characteristics of the CE‐C⁴D‐indirect UV methodology was validated. The instrument detection and quantification limits were 0.49 and 1.6 mg/L for C⁴D, and 5.1 mg/L and 17.0 mg/L for indirect UV, respectively. The linearity was obtained over the range from 2.5 to 400 mg/L for C⁴D and from 12.5 to 400 mg/L for indirect UV. The interday precisions were within 2.3–5.7% and intraday precisions were within 1.6–9.0% for C⁴D as well as 2.1–9.3%, 5.6–10.1% for indirect UV in spiked saliva, respectively. The recoveries were within 87.2–104.4%. The matrix effects were +53.2% for small concentrations up to 25 mg/L for C⁴D and +23.6% for concentrations up to 75 for mg/L for indirect UV detection. No matrix effects were observed for higher concentration levels. In conclusion, CE‐C4D‐indirect UV can offer a rapid, accurate, sensitive, and definitive method for the determination of GHB abuse in saliva samples as a forensic screening tool.     

Dynamic pH barrage junction focusing of amino acids,peptides, and digested monoclonal antibodies in capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry

Dynamic pH barrage junction focusing in CE enables effective signal enhancement, quantitative capture efficiencies, and straightforward optimization. The method is a technical variant of dynamic pH junction focusing. CE separation with dynamic pH barrage junction focusing is compatible with both optical and mass spectrometric detection. We developed a CE–MS/MS method using hydrophilic polyethyleneimine-coated capillaries and validated it for the qualitative analysis of amino acids, peptides, and tryptic peptides of digested monoclonal antibodies. The S/N of extracted ion electropherograms of zwitterionic analytes were enhanced by approximately two orders of magnitude with a tradeoff of a shortened separation window. Online focusing improved the MS signal intensity of a diluted antibody digest, enabling more precursor ions to be analyzed with subsequent tandem mass spectrometric identification. It also broadened the concentration range of protein digest samples for which adequate sequence coverage data can be obtained. With only 0.9 ng of digested infliximab sample loaded into the capillary, 76% and 100% sequence coverage was realized for antibody heavy and light chains, respectively, after online focusing. Full coverage was achieved with 9 ng of injected digest.     

Determination of neurotransmitters in PC 12 cells by microchip electrophoresis with fluorescence detection

A sensitive fluorescence detection system with an Hg-lamp as the excitation source and a photon counter as the detector for microchip CE (MCE) has been developed. O-Phthaldialdehyde (OPA, lambda(ex) = 340 nm) was employed to label the catecholamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), and amino acid neurotransmitters including alanine (Ala), taurine (Tau), glycine (Gly), glutamic acid (Glu), and aspartic acid (Asp). The separation of seven derivatized neurotransmitters was successfully performed in MCE and the detection limits (S/N = 3) for DA, NE, Ala, Tau, Gly, Glu, and Asp were 0.85, 0.49, 0.23, 0.15, 0.13, 0.18, and 0.29 fmol, respectively. The system was then successfully applied for separation and determination of neurotransmitters in rat pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells, and the average amounts of analyte per cell from a cell population were 2.5 fmol for DA, 3.3 fmol for Ala, 8.2 fmol for Tau, 4.0 fmol for Gly, and 1.9 fmol for Glu, respectively. By single-cell injection mode, electrophoresis separation and quantitative measurement of Glu in individual PC 12 cells was obtained. The average value of Glu per cell from single PC 12 cells analysis was found to be 3.5 +/- 3.1 fmol.     

Simultaneous determination of hydrophilic amino acid enantiomers in mammalian tissues and physiological fluids applying a fully automated micro-two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatographic concept

A validated two-dimensional HPLC system combining a microbore-monolithic ODS column and a narrowbore-enantioselective column has been established for a sensitive and simultaneous analysis of hydrophilic amino acid enantiomers (His, Asn, Ser, Gln, Arg, Asp, allo-Thr, Glu and Thr) and the non-chiral amino acid, Gly, in biological samples. To accomplish this goal, the amino acids were first tagged with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F) to the respective fluorescent NBD derivatives which were separated in the first dimension by a micro-reversed-phase column. The automatically collected fractions of the target peaks were then transferred to the second dimension consisting of a Pirkle type enantioselective column generating separation factors higher than 1.13 for all the enantiomeric target analytes. The system was validated using standard amino acids and a rat plasma sample, and analytically satisfactory calibration and precision results were obtained. The present 2D-HPLC system enables the fully automated determination of hydrophilic amino acid enantiomers in mammalian samples. The d-isomers of all the investigated 9 amino acids were found in rat urine but at various enantiomeric ratios.     

On-column labeling technique and chiral CE of amino acids with mixed chiral selectors and UV detection

A novel method has been developed for the on-column labeling of amino acid enantiomers with 9-fluoroenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC), followed by chiral CE with a binary chiral selector system and UV detection. Efficient labeling was achieved by sequential injection of amino acids, borate buffer, and FMOC labeling solution at 0.2 psi for 6 s. After injection, the sandwich sections were electrically mixed at 250 V/cm for 6 s and allowed to react (electric field-free) at room temperature for 2 min. With this procedure, successful online-labeling and chiral CE separation of 19 pairs of amino acids (AA) have been conducted, giving 17 pairs fully enantioresolved (R(s) = 1.73-5.79) and two pairs partially resolved (Ala, R(s) = 0.39 and Arg, R(s) = 1.15) using a running buffer of 150 mM borate containing 30 mM beta-CD, 30 mM sodium taurodeoxycholate (STDC), and 15% isopropanol (IPA) at pH 9.0. Chiral CE of some mixed pairs was also demonstrated, much the same as using precolumn labeling. Surprisingly, Met, Asp, Asn, Gln, and His gained even higher enantioresolution (up to 2.5%) compared with the case of precolumn labeling. As validated by both artificially prepared solutions and serum samples, the method was applicable to the quantitative determination of AA, with LODs down to 4.0 microM. The method allowed the determination of D-AA at the ratio of 1:100 (D:L).     

Rapid analysis of neurotransmitters in rat brain using ultra‐fast liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry: application to a comparative study in normal and insomnic rats

Neurotransmitters and their metabolites in central nervous system were known to play a significant role in sedation and hypnosis. A rapid and sensitive UFLC‐MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of serotonin, 5‐hydroxyindole acetic acid (5‐HIAA), tryptophan (Try), dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid (Glu) and acetylcholine (Ach) in rat brain without derivatization, ion‐pairing reagent or pre‐concentration was developed. Analytes and IS were separated on a Inertsil ODS‐EP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm particles) and analyzed in a single chromatographic run in less than 9.0 min, using gradient elution with the mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.01% acetic acid in water at a flow rate of 1.2 ml min^?1. The detection of the analytes was performed on 4000Q UFLC‐MS/MS system with turbo ion spray source in positive ion and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The developed method provided excellent linear calibration curves for the assay of analytes (R² ≥ 0.9915). Limits of quantification were in the range of 1.0 ng ml^?1 to 1.0 µg ml^?1 for the analytes in rat brain. Intra‐ and inter‐day precision and accuracy of analytes were well within acceptance criteria (15%). Mean extraction recoveries of analytes and IS from rat brain were all more than 80.0%. Furthermore, the validated method was successfully applied to comparing profiles of analytes in normal and insomnic rat brains. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for serotonin, 5‐HIAA, DA, NE, Glu and Ach, but no significant difference for Try and GABA between two groups. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An optimized HPLC/MS/MS method for quantification of excitatory amino acids in rat hippocampus and its application in brain ischemia/reperfusion research

An optimized HPLC/MS/MS method was established to quantify glutamate (Glu) and aspartic acid (Asp) in rat hippocampus with glutamate‐d5 (Glu‐d5) as internal standard. The mass spectrometry was operated under the multiple reaction monitoring mode using electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode for Glu and negative ion mode for Asp. The retention times of Glu, Asp and Glu‐d5 were 1.53, 2.07 and 1.52 min, respectively. The linearity of calibration curves was good, with r² > 0.99 and a lower limit of quantitation of 10 ng/mL. The intra‐day precisions (relative standard deviation, RSD) of Glu and Asp were in the range of 3.61–8.17 and 4.22–10.09%, respectively; the inter‐day precisions (RSD) of Glu and Asp were in the range of 3.57–5.19 and 2.49–5.04%, respectively. The accuracies of Glu and Asp were in the range of ?2.10–6.20 and ?0.90–10.00%, respectively. The recovery rates of 10, 100 and 1000 ng/mL were found to be 0.89 ± 0.24, 1.01 ± 0.10 and 0.90 ± 0.12 for Glu and 0.99 ± 0.26, 0.93 ± 0.07 and 1.13 ± 0.13 for Asp, respectively. This optimized method was successfully applied to quantify the concentration of Glu and Asp in rat hippocampus in brain ischemia/reperfusion research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance of throughout in-capillary derivatization capillary electrophoresis employing an on-line sample and run buffer loading device

We report on the effect on performance of varying the length of the capillary during throughout in-capillary derivatization (TICD) capillary electrophoresis (CE). Performance was evaluated by on-line coupling with a sample and CE runbuffer loading device that was newly introduced for this study. The device was assembled with a low cost using two 5 mm inner diameter (ID) disposable polyethylene syringes. First, a sequence was manually formed consisting of a 200 microL run buffer solution plug, a 100 microL sample plug and another 200 microL run buffer solution plug. Each plug was separated from its neighbor by a 100 microL air plug. When each plug reached the injection point where both a platinum-wire anode and the end of the separation capillary tube were located, 340 V/cm separation voltage (electrophoresis voltage) and 34 V/cm injection voltage were applied to the capillary for 3 s. Then the analytes were derivatized during migration in 50 microm ID capillaries filled with 2 mM o-phthalaldehyde (OPA)/N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in a 20 mM phosphate-borate buffer (pH 10), followed by separating and detecting of OPA derivatives by absorbance of 340 nm. Derivatization, separation, and detection were performed systematically using capillaries which varied in length from 5 to 80 cm. In the case of TICD-CE of a mixture containing 1 mM aspartic acid (Asp) and 20 mM m-nitorophenol (MNP) as a test solution, it was determined that peak area and peak width ratios of Asp to MNP did not depend on capillary length. Enantiomeric separations of DL-alanine (Ala) and Asp were examined using a run buffer consisting of a 45 microM beta-cyclodextrin (CD)-2 mM OPA/NAC-20 mM phosphate-borate buffer (pH 10). Even though the resolution of these enantiomeric pairs decreased with decreasing capillary length, as expected, the peaks corresponding to both enantiomeric amino acids were identified even when a 5 cm capillary was used. An 8-component amino acid mixture was also tested with 5 cm and 10 cm capillaries.     

Direct UV detection of underivatized amino acids using capillary electrophoresis with online sweeping enrichment

This is an original report proposed a CE method for direct analysis of the underivatized amino acids using UV detection with relatively higher sensitivity, which was based on coordination interactions between amino acids and Cu (II) ions. In addition, an online sweeping preconcentration technique was easily combined to improve the detection sensitivity. Satisfying separations of the amino acids were obtained under optimized conditions: 50 mmol/L CuSO₄–0.05% HAc–H₂O (pH 4.5), and the separation voltage of 15 kV. The LODs for the analytes ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 μmol/L. The linearity of detection for all analytes was two orders of magnitude with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The repeatability was displayed with an RSD less than 3% for migration time and peak height (n = 5). Moreover, some amino acids in real samples of human saliva and green tea were analyzed by this direct UV detection CE method with acceptable sensitivity.     

Simultaneous Determination of Glyphosate,Glufosinate, and Aminomethylphosphonic Acid by Capillary Electrophoresis After 9‐Fluorenylmethyl Chloroformate Derivatization

A capillary electrophoresis (CE) with UV absorption detection method is described for the simultaneous determination of glufosinate, glyphosate, and aminomethylphosphoric acid. The 9‐fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC‐Cl) was used for precolumn derivatization of the non‐absorbing herbicides. The three analytes were separated by CE in 9 min with 25 mM borate buffer at pH 9, followed by detection with a UV detector at 260 nm. We demonstrate how the detection limit can be enhanced by using acetonitrile‐salt mixtures. With acetonitrile‐salt mixtures, the limit of detection (LOD) was in the 10^?7 M range. Linearity of more than two orders of magnitude was generally obtained. Precisions of migration times and peak areas were less than 0.9% and 7.5%, respectively. The applicabilities of the method for the analysis of ground water and lake water were examined.     

Validation of a method for determination of phospholipase A2 and melittin in bee venom preparations by capillary electrophoresis

A method was validated for the determination of the 2 main components of bee venom, phospholipase A2 and melittin, by capillary electrophesis (CE). Optimum resolution and selectivity were attained with a running electrolyte of 150 mM phosphoric acid, pH 1.8. The repeatability and day-to-day reproducibility of the migration times were better than 0.36 and 2.8%, respectively. The repeatability and day-to-day reproducibility of the normalized peak areas were better than 1.3 and 2.6%, respectively. The response of the UV detector at 190 nm was linear over < 2 concentration decades, from 0.05 to 1.5 mg/mL, with correlation coefficients of 0.9994 for phospholipase A2 and 0.9997 for melittin. The limits of detection and quantitation were 4.5 and 15 microg/mL, respectively, for phospholipase A2 and 1.6 and 6 microg/mL, respectively, for melittin. The reproducibility of the measurements with 2 different CE instruments was satisfactory; the mean concentration and relative standard deviation (RSD) values for phospholipase A2 and melittin were 14.4% (RSD, 1.3%) and 51.4% (RSD, 1.1%), respectively, with instrument I; the corresponding values with instrument II were 14.5% (RSD, 2.8%) and 52.3% (RSD, 2.2%). The accuracy was estimated by comparison with a liquid chromatographic (LC) method. Differences between the CE and LC measurements were attributed to irreversible adsorption of the analytes on the LC column. The recoveries of phospholipase A2 and melittin with the CE method were 98.8 and 101.7%, respectively.     

Analysis of carboxylic acid metabolites from the tricarboxylic acid cycle in Bacillus subtilis cell extract by capillary electrophoresis using an indirect photometric detection method

With a growing interest in metabolome analysis, there is a need for developing robust methods for analysis of intracellular metabolites profiles in real samples like e.g., bacteria cell. Due to their weak absorbance properties, tri- and dicarboxylic acids from TCA cycle (citric, isocitric, 2-oxoglutaric, succinic, fumaric, malic) as well as carboxylic acid metabolites from glycolysis pathway, urea cycle and metabolism of amino compounds (formic, pyruvic, lactic, acetic, glutamic) were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with indirect UV detection. Using 4 mM 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid as a highly UV absorbing carrier electrolyte, 0.2 mM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, 10% ethylene glycol and 10% acetonitrile, pH 3.5, carboxylic acids metabolites were analyzed in Bacillus subtilis cell extract from two different cultures: glucose and malate. CE with an electrokinetic injection mode achieved limits of detection in the range of 13-54 ppb (1.12-10(-7) - 5.96-10(-7) M). The reproducibility and linearity of method was investigated with RSD for migration time less than 1.3% and acceptable correlation coefficients. The optimized CE method was used to compare metabolome content of cell extract derived from two different culture media containing either glucose or malate as a carbon source. The changes in carboxylic acid metabolites profile were observed depending from used culture medium. Carboxylic acid concentrations ranged: in cell extract from malate culture from 59 to 0.5 microM for lactate and citrate, respectively, and in cell extract from glucose culture from 133 to 0.5 microM for glutamate and citrate, respectively. Appropriate concentrations of carboxylic acid in the single bacterium cell were estimated at mM and sub-mM levels.     

Quantification of neurotransmitter amino acids by capillary electrophoresis laser-induced fluorescence detection in biological fluids

The role of neurotransmitter amino acids (NAAs) in the functioning of the nervous system has been the focus of increasingly intense research over the past several years. Among the various amino acids that have important roles as neurotransmitters, there are alanine (Ala), glutamic acid (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), serine (Ser), taurine (Tau) and glycine (Gly). NAAs are present in plasma, cells and—at trace levels—in all biological fluids, but complex components in biological matrices make it difficult to determine them in biological samples. We describe a new capillary electrophoresis (CE) method with laser-induced fluorescence detection by which analytes are resolved in less than 12 minutes in a 18 mmol/L phosphate run buffer at pH 11.6. The use of elevated temperatures during sample derivatization leads to a drastic reduction in the reaction time, down to 20 min, compared to the 6–14 h usually described for reactions between FITC and amino acids at room temperature. In order to demonstrate its wide range of applications, the method was applied to the analysis of NAA in human plasma and in other sample types, such as red blood cells, urine, cultured cells, cerebrospinal fluid, saliva and vitreous humor, thus avoiding the typical limitations of other methods, which are normally suitable for use with only one or two matrix types.     

Ultraviolet thermal lensing detection of amino acids

Thermal lensing (TL) permits ultra-sensitive measurements of optical absorption of analytes in very small liquid volumes. We report the construction and use of a TL detector based on pulsed ultraviolet (UV) laser excitation (266 nm). We applied this detector to quantitate amino acids using capillary electrophoresis (CE) as a means of separation. Sixteen individual amino acids are readily detected, but the signal has a complex dependence on intensity caused by the combination of (1) one-photon absorption; (2) two-photon absorption (TPA); and (3) photodestruction of amino acid molecules in the focus of the laser beam. An aqueous solution containing tyrosine, tryptophan, and cysteine is electrophoretically separated and the individual amino acids are detected by UV TL. The estimated limit of detection is 7 microM for tyrosine, 2.5 microM for tryptophan and 33 microM for cysterine, which translates into 0.35 fmol for tyrosine, 0.125 fmol for tryptophan, and 1.65 fmol for cysteine in the 140pL detection volume. It is found that two-photon absorption of water and the formation of color centers in the fused silica walls of the flowcell can contribute a significant, drifting background signal, but this interference can be minimized by selecting an appropriate focus condition and excitation-detection geometry. We suggest that as UV laser sources become available, UV TL may become a method of choice for measuring the concentrations of many analytes in different separation formats in which the volume is highly limited.     

Analysis of glyphosate and glufosinate by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry utilising a sheathless microelectrospray interface

The potential of capillary electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of two herbicides (glyphosate and glufosinate) and their metabolites (aminomethylphosphonic acid and methylphosphinicopropionic acid) as the native species is demonstrated utilising a simple microelectrospray interface. The interface uses the voltage applied to the CE capillary to drive separation and generate the electrospray, avoiding sample dilution associated with the use of a sheath liquid interface. The chemistry of the internal walls of the capillary has a marked influence on peak shape, and appropriate choice is essential to successful operation of the interface. A linear polyacrylamide coated capillary, which has no electroosmotic flow, gave best reproducibility, with precision of migration time and peak area in the range 1-2 and 7-12% RSD, respectively, for the four analytes. Limits of detection, low-pg on-column, are substantially better than for previous methods and calibration curves over the range 1-100 microM have R2 values greater than 0.97. The observed concentration limit of detection for glyphosate in water is 1 microM and for a water-acetone extract of wheat is 2.5 microM, allowing the underivatised herbicide to be detected at 10% of the maximum residue limit in wheat.     

Simultaneous determination of amphoteric surfactants in detergents by capillary electrophoresis with indirect UV detection

A simple, rapid and simultaneous determination of four types of amphoteric surfactants, i.e., C8, C10, C12, C14, C16 and C18-homologues of alkyldimethylamine N-oxide (AO), alkylamidopropylamine N-oxide (APAO), alkylbetaine (Bt) and alkylamidopropylbetaine (APB), was performed by using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with indirect UV detection. To optimize the separation conditions, effects of pH of background solution (BGS), organic modifier and chromophore for indirect UV detection on the CE separation of the amphoteric compounds were investigated. Addition of 50% (v/v) acetonitrile to the BGS under a lower pH condition brought a good separation performance due to the suppression of micelle formation for the analytes and the adsorption onto the inner surface of the capillary. Under an optimal condition, the 24 amphoteric analytes were completely separated in a single run within 17min. The relative standard deviation of the migration time was ranging from 0.20 to 0.23% and the limit of detection values for AO, APAO, Bt and APB homologues were 10-20, 20, 20-50 and 50microg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the developed method can provide a high resolution separation of the amphoteric surfactants in commercially available detergents and shampoo without any sample pretreatments.     

Quantification of D‐Asp and D‐Glu in rat brain and human cerebrospinal fluid by microchip electrophoresis

A microchip electrophoresis (MCE) method with LIF detection was presented for quantification of D ‐aspartic acid (D ‐Asp) and D ‐glutamate (D ‐Glu) in biological samples. D ‐Asp and D ‐Glu were determined after precolumn derivatization with FITC. The chiral separation was performed on a glass/PDMS hybrid microfluidic chip using γ‐CD as chiral selector in the running buffer. High sensitive detection was obtained by the LIF detection. The LODs (S/N = 3) for D ‐Asp and D ‐Glu were 6.0×10^–8 and 4.0×10^–8 M, respectively. Using this method, the levels of D ‐Asp and D ‐Glu in rat brain and human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were determined.