Interactions of Proteins with the Acidic Components of the Electrolyte Solution and Their Role in the Performance of Separations by CZE

This paper reports the results of a study performed to investigate the dependence of the performance of protein separation by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) on the anionic component of the electrolyte solutions consisting of 20 mM N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,3-butanediamine (TMBD) titrated to either pH 4.0 or pH 6.5 with either a monoprotic or a polyprotic acid. With the exception of hydrochloric acid, the acids were selected among those commonly used as the constituents of the solutions employed for protein analysis by either HPLC or CZE. TMBD was chosen for its effectiveness at preventing the interactions of proteins with the inner wall of bare fused-silica capillaries. The performance of separations was evaluated using four basic model proteins having pI value and molecular mass ranging from 9.5 to 11.0 and from 12,400 to 25,000 Da, respectively. It is shown that the different acids used as the components of the background electrolyte solutions, all containing the same concentration of TMBD, affect to different extents both migration time and peak shape of the tested proteins. The performance displayed by the BGE containing phosphate ions is enhanced using TMBD in combination with diethylenetriamine, an aliphatic vicinal triamine having effective buffering capacity at pH 4.0 and capability at minimizing protein–capillary wall interactions. The reported experimental evidences are discussed based on the possible interactions that the phosphate ions are known to establish with both the protein molecules and the surface of bare fused-silica capillaries.