Subsecond chiral separations on a microchip

Fast chiral separation of DNS-amino acids could be realized using microchip electrophoresis with fluorescence detection. For this purpose, highly sulfated cyclodextrins (HS-gamma-CD) were used as chiral selectors enabling high selectivity. Even subsecond separation of DNS-tryptophan, DNS-norleucine, DNS-phenylalanine, DNS-methionine, and DNS-aspartic acid could be achieved. Baseline separation could be accomplished within 720 ms, which is the fastest separation of enantiomers reported to date. A more complex mixture consisting of three chiral DNS-amino acids could be separated within 3.3 s utilizing a separation length of only 7 mm and an electrical field strength of 2012 V/cm.