3,4-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxy-4-methyl-3-oxoquinoxaline-2-carbonyl chloride as a sensitive fluorescence derivatization reagent for amines in liquid chromatography

A rapid and sensitive method for the fluorescence derivatization of primary and secondary amines is described, based on the reaction of the amines with 3,4-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxy-4-methyl- 3-oxoquinoxaline-2-carbonyl chloride. Cyclohexylamine, n-hexylamine and di-n-butylamine were used as model compounds to optimize the derivatization conditions. The reagent reacts with the amines in acetonitrile in the presence of potassium carbonate very rapidly to give the corresponding fluorescent amides, which can be separated on a reversed-phase column, TSKgel ODS-80TM, with aqueous acetonitrile as eluent. Alcohols and amino acids did not give any fluorescent products under the derivatization conditions. The detection limits are in the range 5–50 fmol per 20-μl injection. Reactions with other amines are also discussed.