Determination of catecholamines as their N-hydroxy-succinimidyl-3-indolylacetate derivatives by pre-column derivatization HPLC separation and fluorescent detection

N-Hydroxysuccinimidyl-3-indolylacetate (SIIA) is a new fluorescent derivatizing reagent with an indole ring and ?an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester functionality. It can react with catecholamines under mild conditions to form corresponding amides, which have strong fluorescence at λ_ex/λ_em = 301 nm/?365 nm. This paper covers the RP-HPLC separation and fluorescent determination of derivatized catecholamines with SIIA. In a mobile phase of methanol-water (36/64, v/v) containing H₃cit-Na₂HPO₄ buffer (pH = 4.00, 10 mmol/L), the derivatives of norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E) and dopamine (DA) were eluted within 15 min on a C₁₈ column. The detection limits were 0.043, 0.13 and 0.18 pmol, respectively, when the ratio of signal to noise (S/N) was 3. The excessive reagent is rapidly hydrolyzed to 3-indolylacetic acid (IA) that can be easily separated from derivatives. Received: 16 April 1999 / Revised: 13 July 1999 / /Accepted: 15 July 1999