Determination of Amino Acids by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection Using Ferrocene Derivatization Reagents

Abstract

Two new reagents possessing ferrocene as an electrophore and isothiocyanate reactive toward the amino group were prepared and evaluated for pre-column derivatization of amino acids in high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The utilities of these reagents were investigated employing glycine as a model compound. Ferrocenylisothiocyanate was more favorable with respect to reactivity and electrochemical properties. The newly developed method was applied to the determination of 4-aminobutyric acid in biological specimens.