Analysis of amino acids and biogenic amines in biological tissues as their o-phthalaldehyde/ethanethiol/fluorenylmethyl chloroformate derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography. A deproteinization study

The extraction of ornithine, lysine, putrescine, cadaverine, 1,7-diaminoheptane, spermidine and spermine from biological tissues was optimized for HPLC quantitation as their o-phthalaldehyde/ethanethiol/fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (OPA/ET/FMOC) derivatives. In applying perchloric acid deproteinization two approaches have been followed: (i) deproteinization with subsequent neutralization by potassium hydroxide and lyophilization, and (ii) deproteinization without neutralization and lyophilization. Neutralization and lyophilization resulted in the loss of free biogenic amines. HPLC analysis of ornithine (Orn), lysine (Lys), putrescine (Put), cadaverine (Cad), 1,7-diaminoheptane (Dah), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) content of biological tissues as their OPA/ET/FMOC derivatives was performed in the supernatant of perchloric acid-deproteinized samples (model solutions and tissues) with an average reproducibility of < or =2.6% relative standard deviation (RSD), including recovery of sample treatment and chromatography.     

Quantification of polyamines in human erythrocytes using a new near-infrared cyanine 1-(epsilon-succinimidyl-hexanoate)-1'-methyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine-5,5'-disulfonate potassium with CE-LIF detection

A novel near-infrared (NIR) cyanine 1-(epsilon-succinimidyl-hexanoate)-1'-methyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine-5,5'-disulfonate potassium (MeCy5-OSu) has been developed in our laboratory. Simultaneous determination of MeCy5-OSu-derivatized polyamines spermine (Spm), spermidine (Spd), cadaverine (Cad), and putrescine (Put) based on the separation by CE combined with diode LIF detection has been accomplished. The highest derivatization efficiency was achieved in 0.2 mol/L borate buffer (pH 8.8) for 20 min at 25 degrees C. Polyamine derivatives were separated within 14 min in the phosphate running buffer (pH 3) containing 50 mmol/L phosphoric acid, 40 mmol/L SDS, and 35% methanol v/v. Linearity of response was obtained in the range of 10-200 nmol/L. The detection limits (S/N = 3) for Spm, Spd, Cad, and Put were 0.8, 1, 3, and 2 nmol/L, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of polyamines in erythrocytes of two healthy persons and one cancer patient. Average recoveries for erythrocyte samples were 93.6-106% and coefficients of variation ranged from 1.8 to 5.4%. The analysis of polyamines in erythrocytes can be used for studying the relationship between their changes and the carcinogenesis process involved in erythrocytes.     

Direct tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium (II) electrochemiluminescence detection of polyamines separated by capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium (II) (Ru(bpy)3(2+)) electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection technique was developed for the analysis of four polyamines (putrescine (Put), cadaverine (Cad), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm)) analysis. The four polyamines contain different amine groups, which have different ECL activity. There are several parameters which influence the resolution and ECL peak intensities, including the buffer pH and concentrations, separation voltage, sample injection, electrode materials, and Ru(bpy)3(2+) concentrations. Polyamines are separated by capillary zone electrophoresis in an uncoated fused-silica capillary (50 cmx25 micro m (ID) filled with acidic phosphate buffer (200 mmol/L phosphate, pH 2.0) - 1mol/L phosphoric acid (9:1 v/v) and a separation voltage of 5 kV (25 micro A), with end-column Ru(bpy)3(2+) ECL detection. A 5 mmol/L Ru(bpy)3(2+) solution plus 200 mmol/L phosphate buffer (pH 11.0) is added into the reagent reservoir. The calibration curve is linear over a concentration range of two or three orders of magnitude for the polyamines. The analysis time is less than 25 min. Detection limits for Put and Cad are 1.9x10(-7) mol/L and 7.6x10(-9) mol/L for Spd and Spm, respectively. Intraday and interday relative standard deviations of ECL peak intensities are less than 8%. The main advantages of this CE-ECL detection technique for polyamines analysis presented herein are the omission of chemical derivatization of the analytes and the high selectivity.     

Determination of histamine and some other amines by high-performance capillary electrophoresis with on-line mode in-capillary derivatization

We have developed a method for the determination of histamine (His), tyramine (Tyr) and cadaverine (Cad) using high-performance capillary electrophoresis with fluorescence detection and an on-line mode in-capillary derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA)/N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as derivatization reagent. HPCE separation of His, Tyr, Cad and Spermidine (Spd) was influenced by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and phosphate–borate buffer (pH 10) concentration. After optimization of the method, a 4-component amine solution containing His, Tyr, Cad and Spd could be separated and detected by using 2 mM OPA/NAC–20 mM SDS–20 mM phosphate–borate buffer (pH 10) as a run buffer at an applied voltage of 25 kV, with detection at 340 nm. Although a practical sensitivity level can be obtained by using fluorescence detection (λ_ex=340 nm, λ_em=450 nm) instead of ultraviolet–visible detection, Spd was not detected at all. The precision (relative standard deviation; n=15) of this method for within- and between-days is less than 2.9% (peak area) and 1.3% (migration time), respectively. Linearity for these analytes, except for Spd, was established over a concentration range of 0.02 to 1.00 μmol/ml and detection limits (S/N=3) range from 1 nmol/ml for His and Tyr to 5 nmol/ml for Cad. The determination of His and some amines in aging raw fish meat samples (room temperature, 48 h) was carried out using the described method with fluorescence detection.     

Capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection of main polyamines and precursor amino acids in saliva

A hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction （HF-LPME） method has been developed for the purification and preconcentration of biogenic polyamines and their precursor amino acids in human saliva. Putrescine （Put）, cadaverine （Cad）, spermidine （Spe）, ornithine （Orn）, lysine （Lys）, and arginine （Arg） were determined by the CE-LIF detection after microextraction. Several factors that affect extraction efficiency, separation, and detection were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, six analytes could achieve baseline separation within 30 min, exhibiting a linear calibration at three orders of magnitude （r2 〉 0.998）; the obtained enrichment factors of HF-LPME were between 19 （for Orn） and 2] 8 （for Cad）, and the LODs were in the range of 0.0072-0.26 nmol/L. The proposed HF-LPME/CE-LIF method has been successfully applied for the sensitive analyses of the real-world saliva samples collected from healthy volunteers and different patients with oral diseases, providing a potential method for primary non-invasive diagnosis of some oral diseases.     

Advances in the o-phthalaldehyde derivatizations. Comeback to the o-phthalaldehyde-ethanethiol reagent

The main aims of this work were (a) to present the characteristics and stability of the o-phthalaldehyde (OPA)-ethanethiol (ET) derivatives of 22 amino acids, including the believed-to-be less stable OPA derivatives providing glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, beta-alanine, histidine, ornithine, lysine and the C(1)-C(5) aliphatic amines; (b) to compare the stability properties of the most common amino acids and amines as OPA-ET-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC) derivatives to the corresponding ones obtained from OPA reagents containing various (SH)-additives; (c) to show the molar responses of alanine and lysine depending on the OPA reagent's composition; as well as (d) to prove the practical utility of these basic researches, by the simultaneous HPLC separation of 22 amino acids and 15 amines as their OPA-ET-FMOC derivatives. Investigations have been carried out by varying the composition of the reagents, the molar ratios of reactants and the reaction time, applying diode array and fluorescence detections simultaneously. Average reproducibility of quantitations, characterized with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) based on the fluorescence intensities of derivatives, in the order of listing, proved to be 1.2-5.9% for amino acids and 1.1-8.7% for amines. The practical utility of the method is demonstrated by the analysis of the amino acid and amine contents of mouse tissues, with an average reproducibility of 3.5%.     

Rapid and Sensitive Determination of Five Amine Biomarkers in Plasma Samples from Stroke Patients by MEKC with Precolumn Derivatization

The current diagnosis of stroke remains hampered and delayed due to lack of a suitable mechanism for the rapid, accurate, and analytically sensitive biomarker-based testing methods. In the present study, a MEKC method coupled with highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence detection and precolumn derivatization was originally described for the rapid, sensitive determination of five amine biomarkers including homocysteine (Hcy), glutamic acid (Glu), putrescine (Put), spermine (Spm) and spermidine (Spd) of stroke in plasma samples from stroke patients. 3-(2-Furoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde (FQ) was selected as the fluorescence reagent and optimized for the advantageous high-throughput derivatization with total 30 μL reaction system in 384-well microplates for the rapid determination of the targeted analytes. Results showed that the proposed derivatization reaction approach coupled with MEKC-LIF was an efficient method for the rapid determination of five amine biomarkers of stroke in plasma samples.

     

Behavior and characteristics of the o-phthaldialdehyde derivatives of n-C6-C8 amines and phenylethylamines with four additive SH-containing reagents

The stability and characteristics of the C6-C8 n-aliphatic and phenylethylamines have been investigated as their o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA)/3-mercaptopropionic acid, OPA/N-acetyl-L-cysteine, OPA/2-mercaptoethanol and OPA/ethanethiol derivatives. Stoichiometric studies have been followed by photodiode array and fluorescence detection, simultaneously, while the composition of derivatives was confirmed by on line HPLC-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS measurements. All four amines having in their original structure the NH2-CH2- moiety in accordance with the C1-C4 aliphatic, mono and diamines and amino acids of the same structure--furnished more than one OPA derivative: their initially formed isoindoles transform to further ones. Depending on the composition of the OPA reagents and on the pH of derivatizations different type of transformed species have been identified, in various proportions. Applying the OPA/SH additive reagent in the molar ratio of 1/3, favors the formation of one additional OPA molecule-containing isoindole, while using the OPA/SH additive (1/50) reagent resulted in the formation of one additional SH additive-containing species, identified and measured at the first time by HPLC. Transformation rate and stability of derivatives proved to be associated with the composition of the OPA reagent, with the type of the SH additive, with the pH of derivatizations, and, in selected cases also with the chain length of the amine. Results of stoichiometric and mechanism studies have been utilized to define optimum analytical conditions.     

Quantitation of amino acids in plasma by high performance liquid chromatography: Simultaneous deproteinization and derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl chloride

This paper, as a novelty to this field, presents the deproteinization and derivatization of plasma's free amino acids (PFAAs), simultaneously, in a single step, with the acetonitrile (ACN) containing 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl chloride (FMOC) reagent. Deproteinization and derivatization, were studied with 22 amino acids, applying photodiode array (DAD) and fluorescence (FL) detection, simultaneously. Model investigations have been carried out as a function of the FMOC concentration, reaction time and reaction conditions: with standard solutions, with human plasma samples in its initial condition and fortified with standard amino acids (excluding tryptophan because it co-elutes with the hydrolyzed FMOC). Reproducibilities of 22 amino acids, including both histidine and tyrosine derivatives, obtained under optimum derivatization conditions are presented (at 3.0 mM FMOC concentration, at pH 9; derivatization time = 20 min), and characterized with the relative standard deviation percentages of their responses (≤4.4%, RSD). Quantitation limit (LOQ) of amino acid FMOC derivatives proved to be 2.5 pmol, except for cystine, ornithine (5 pmol) and for the total of tyrosines (N-FMOC-tyrosine and N,O-FMOC-tyrosine 10 pmol).     

A study of polyamine complex formation with H+, Cu(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), and Mg(II) in aqueous solution

Summary The composition and stability of the following biogenic amine complexes have been investigated: 1,4-diaminobutane(Put), 4-azaoctane-1,8-diamine(Spd), 4,9-diazadodecan-1, 12-diamine(Spm) as well as homologues such as 1,3-diaminopropane(Put3), 4-azaheptane-1, 7-diamine(Spd3,3) and 4,8-diazaundecan-1,11-diamine(Spm3,3,3) with H⁺, Cu(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) and Mg(II). A potentiometric method was used. The VIS technique enabled the determination of coordination mode in copper/amine systems. It was found that Mg(II) does not form coordination compounds with any of the studied polyamines in solution. An increase in the concentration of ligand and metal was found to result in a stronger tendency towards the formation of protonated compounds accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of hydroxocomplexes. At physiologicalpH (7.4) an increase in the concentration of protonated compounds by approximately 15% was observed within the ligand concentration range from 0.001 mol dm^–3 to 0.0001 mol dm^–3 at a Cu(II) concentration of 0.000177 mol dm^–3.

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Untersuchungen zur Komplexbildung von Polyaminen mit H⁺, Cu(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) und Mg(II) in wäßriger Lösung

Zusammenfassung Anhand einer Analyse von potentiometrischen Daten wurden Zusammensetzung und Beständigkeit folgender biogener Aminkomplexe untersucht: 1,4-Diaminobutan(Put), 4-Azaoktan-1,8-diamin(Spd), 4,9-Diazadodekan-1,12-diamin(Spm), sowie auch deren Homologen 1,3-Diaminopropan(Put3), 4-Azaheptan-1,7-diamin(Spd3,3) und 4,8-Diazaundekan-1,11-diamin(Spm3,3,3) mit H⁺, Cu(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) und Mg(II). Mit Hilfe der VIS-Technik wurde die Koordinationsweise in Kupfer/Amin-Systemen bestimmt. Es wurde festgestellt, daß Mg(II) keine Koordinationsverbindungen mit den untersuchten Polyaminen bildet. Eine höhere Konzentration von Ligand und Metall führte zu stärkerer Tendenz der Bildung protonierter Verbindungen, wobei die Konzentration von Hydroxokomplexen kleiner wurde. Bei physiologischempH (7.4) wurde im Bereich der Ligand-Konzentration von 0.001 mol dm^–3 bis 0.0001 mol dm^–3 bei einer Cu(II)-Konzentration von 0.000177 mol dm^–3 ein Anstieg der Konzentration protonierter Verbindungen um etwa 15% beobachtet.

     

Simultaneous analysis of free amino acids and biogenic amines in honey and wine samples using in loop orthophthalaldeyde derivatization procedure

This work presents a RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous quantification of free amino acids and biogenic amines in liquid food matrices and the results of the application to honey and wine samples obtained from different production processes and geographic origins. The developed methodology is based on a pre-column derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde carried out in the sample injection loop. The compounds were separated in a Nova-Pack RP-C(18) column (150 mm x 3.9 mm, 4 microm) at 35 degrees C. The mobile phase used was a mixture of phase A: 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.3), methanol and tetrahydrofuran (91:8:1); and phase B: methanol and phosphate buffer (80:20), with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. Fluorescence detection was used at an excitation wavelength of 335 nm and an emission wavelength of 440 nm. The separation and quantification of 19 amino acids and 6 amines was carried out in a single run as their OPA/MCE derivatives elute within 80 min, ensuring a reproducible quantification. The method showed to be adequate for the purpose, with an average RSD of 2% for the different amino acids; detection limits varying between 0.71 mg/l (Asn) and 8.26 mg/l (Lys) and recovery rates between 63.0% (Cad) and 98.0% (Asp). The amino acids present at the highest concentration in honey and wine samples were phenylalanine and arginine, respectively. Only residual levels of biogenic amines were detected in the analysed samples.     

Determination of Amino Acid Enantiomers in Pharmaceuticals by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Precolumn derivatization with the reagent o-phthalic aldehyde/N-acetyl-L-cysteine (OPA/NAC) was used for the determination of amino acid enantiomers by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The influence of the composition and pH of the eluent on the separation of the resulting derivatives was studied with the example of four amino acids. It was found that the highest selectivity and efficiency of the separation of OPA/NAC derivatives of amino acids is attained with the use of the eluent methanol–0.01 M Na₂HPO₄ (pH 6.0). The optimum composition of the mobile phase and conditions of the gradient elution were selected for the separation of a mixture of 20 amino acid derivatives. A procedure was developed for the determination of amino acid enantiomers in parenteral nutrition preparations. The procedure was used for the determination of D-isomers of arginine, alanine, methionine, phenylalanine, and leucine in the preparation Polyamine.     

Liquid chromatographic fluorescence determination of amino acids in plasma and urine after derivatization with phanquinone

Phanquinone (4,7-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) has been investigated as a pre-column derivatization fluorogenic reagent for liquid chromatographic determination of primary amino acids in biological samples. The derivatization reaction was carried out at 68 degrees C both in the presence of aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 8) for 30 min and without buffer for 60 min to allow the determination of basic amino acids (Orn, Lys, Arg). The resulting derivatives were separated under reversed-phase HPLC and detected at lambda(em) = 460 nm with lambda(ex) = 400 nm. The proposed method was validated and applied to the determination of a variety of amino acids directly in urine and after deproteinization with 5-sulfosalicylic acid in plasma samples. The detection and quantitation limits were found in the range 10-450 and 35-1400 fmol, respectively.     

Direct determination of enantiomeric purity of FMOC amino acids with high performance liquid chromatography

Summary Analytical methods are described which allow a direct determination of enantiomeric purity of seventeen FMOC amino acids commonly used in peptide synthesis. The corresponding ester derivatives can be separated directly on cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (Chiralcel-OD). The methods are suitable for primary as well as secondary FMOC amino acids. The presence of a highly sensitive fluorescence moiety within the molecule, in combination with large separation factors (-values between 1.5–2.2) allowed for a general detection limit below 0.05%. In several cases the antipode has been determined in the ppm-range. An interesting result has been observed with respect to the elution order of the FMOC amino acid esters. The elution order of the Trp enantiomers is opposite to that obtained with the other amino acids. This is contrary to the generally held belief that elution order is identical within a homologous series of racemates when chromatographed under identical conditions on the same chiral stationary phase. In addition, the inversion of elution of the Pro enantiomers depending on the estertype indicates a competition of different separation mechanisms.     

Spermine-Induced Morphogenesis and Effect of Partial Immersion System on the Shoot Cultures of Banana

Contribution of exogenous polyamines (PAs) and polyamine-inhibitors on plantlet regeneration patterns of banana (cv. Nanjanagudu Rasabale-AAB) was studied and the performance of regenerated shoots in temporary immersion system was evaluated. The rhizome explants (without shoot bud) of in vitro shoots produced a mixture of embryogenic and nonembryogenic calli on modified MS medium. The analyses of endogenous pools of polyamines showed higher levels of PAs in embryogenic than in nonembryogenic calli. Supplementation of various levels of (10-50 microM) spermine (Spm), spermidine (Spd), and putrescine (Put) to cultures with secondary embryogenesis showed that about 50% of embryogenic calli rapidly produced secondary embryos only in the presence 40 microM Spm but not in other treatments. The crucial role of Spm was further confirmed by the use of 0.1 mM each of alpha-DL-Difluromethylornithine and alpha-DL-Difluromethylarginine along with Spm where the presence of inhibitors concomitantly inhibited the secondary embryogenesis. The shoots obtained from the embryogenic cultures were checked for their performance on solid medium (SM) and partial immersion system (PIS). The rate of shoot multiplication was higher in PIS than in SM throughout 6 weeks culture period. Uniformity in elongation of all the shoot buds was observed in PIS but not in SM. Evaluation for the acclimatization, survival under greenhouse conditions revealed the better performance of PIS-derived plants than those from SM.     

Efficient enantioselective separation and determination of trace impurities in secondary amino acids (i.e., imino acids).

An R-(-)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethyl carbamoylated-beta-cyclodextrin bonded phase in conjunction with a nonaqueous polar mobile phase was used for the highly selective enantioseparation of a number of secondary amino acids after their pre-column derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC). Under the conditions employed, the FMOC reagent served to "lock" the imino acid into their existing conformation thereby preventing the possibility of racemization. Furthermore, it served to increase the sensitivity to the point that trace level enantiomeric impurities were easily detected. Compared with separations that use traditional reversed-phase solvents, this method showed several advantages: higher selectivity towards the imino acid enantiomers investigated, shorter analysis times, faster equilibration of the column, more stable baseline and more sensitive fluorescence detection. The detection limits for FMOC derivatives of proline, trans-4-hydroxyproline, cis-4-hydroxyproline, pyroglutamic acid, 3,4-dehydroproline, thiaproline, penicillamine acetone adduct and pipecolic acid are in the low femtomole range. The method was used for evaluation of enantioselectivity of a number of "optically pure" commercial imino acid standards. Enantiomeric impurities as low as 0.0001% (1 ppm) can be determined in some cases. High precision determination of trace levels of D-imino acids in the presence of large amounts of corresponding (opposite) L enantiomer at 1, 0.1, 0.01% and below are demonstrated.     

Development of a sensitive fluorescent derivatization reagent 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl chloroformate (BCEOC) and its application for determination of amino acids from seeds and bryophyte plants using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and identification with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A pre-column derivatization method for the sensitive determination of amino acids and peptides using the tagging reagent 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl chloroformate (BCEOC) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection has been developed. Identification of derivatives was carried out by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). The chromophore of 2-(9-carbazole)-ethyl chloroformate (CEOC) reagent was replaced by 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole functional group, which resulted in a sensitive fluorescence derivatizing reagent BCEOC. BCEOC can easily and quickly label peptides and amino acids. Derivatives are stable enough to be efficiently analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The derivatives showed an intense protonated molecular ion corresponding m/z (M + H)⁺ under electrospray ionization (ESI) positive-ion mode with an exception being Tyr detected at negative mode. The collision-induced dissociation of protonated molecular ion formed a product at m/z 246.2 corresponding to the cleavage of CO bond of BCEOC molecule. Studies on derivatization demonstrate excellent derivative yields over the pH 9.0-10.0. Maximal yields close to 100% are observed with a 3-4-fold molar reagent excess. Derivatives exhibit strong fluorescence and extracted derivatization solution with n-hexane/ethyl acetate (10:1, v/v) allows for the direct injection with no significant interference from the major fluorescent reagent degradation by-products, such as 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethanol (BDC-OH) (a major by-product), mono-1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl carbonate (BCEOC-OH) and bis-(1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl) carbonate (BCEOC)₂. In addition, the detection responses for BCEOC derivatives are compared to those obtained with previously synthesized 2-(9-carbazole)-ethyl chloroformate (CEOC) in our laboratory. The ratios AC_BCEOC/AC_CEOC = 2.05-6.51 for fluorescence responses are observed (here, AC is relative fluorescence response). Separation of the derivatized peptides and amino acids had been optimized on Hypersil BDS C₁₈ column. Detection limits were calculated from 1.0 pmol injection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, and were 6.3 (Lys)-177.6 (His) fmol. The mean interday accuracy ranged from 92 to 106% for fluorescence detection with mean %CV < 7.5. The mean interday precision for all standards was <10% of the expected concentration. Excellent linear responses were observed with coefficients of >0.9999. Good compositional data could be obtained from the analysis of derivatized protein hydrolysates containing as little as 50.5 ng of sample. Therefore, the facile BCEOC derivatization coupled with mass spectrometry allowed the development of a highly sensitive and specific method for the quantitative analysis of trace levels of amino acids and peptides from biological and natural environmental samples.     

N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-fluorescein-O-acetate for precolumn fluorescence derivatization of amino acids and oligopeptides in liquid chromatography

A new fluorescent derivatizing reagent, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-fluorescein-O-acetate, is used for the high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of amino acids and oligopeptides. This reagent has the advantages of high-detection sensitivity in the visible region, specifically with amino groups, mild derivatization conditions, and little interference induced. The fluorescence properties of the reagent and its derivatives with amino acids and oligopeptides are studied. The conditions of the derivatization are investigated in detail. In the mobile phase of methanol-water (42:58, v/v) containing a 10 mM pH 5.0 citric acid-Na2HPO4 buffer, six amino acids and oligopeptides are separated in 20 min with fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 492 and 513 nm, respectively, with the detection limits for injected standards ranging from 0.64 to 12 fmol.