Amino acids separation fluorescent reagents, derivatization

Excess of the reagent hydrolyses to a non-fluorescent residue and the reagent itself does not fluoresce. The optimum wavelength of the excitation light is 390 nm and that of the emitted light 475 nm. This regent is, however, less sensitive than Fluoropa and the derivative is unstable consequently, it must be injected onto the column immediately after formation if used in pre-column derivatization. It has been used successfully in the separation and analysis of polyamines (32), catecholamines (33) and amino acids (34). 

Anions of weak acids can be problematic for detection in suppressed IEC because weak ionization results in low conductivity and poor sensitivity. Converting such acids back to the sodium salt form may overcome this limitation. Caliamanis et al. have described the use of a second micromembrane suppressor to do this, and have applied the approach to the boric acid/sodium borate system, using sodium salt solutions of EDTA.88 Varying the pH and EDTA concentration allowed optimal detection. Another approach for analysis of weak acids is indirect suppressed conductivity IEC, which chemically separates high- and low-conductance analytes. This technique has potential for detection of weak mono- and dianions as well as amino acids.89 As an alternative to conductivity detection, ultraviolet and fluorescence derivatization reagents have been explored 90 this approach offers a means of enhancing sensitivity (typically into the low femtomoles range) as well as selectivity. 

The reaction of 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) (Sanger s reagent [10]) with amino acids is another useful technique which is often employed for the analysis of N-terminal amino acids by TLC and column chromatography after derivatization. The reaction involved in product formation is shown in Fig.4.6. The separated derivatives are determined by measuring the quenching of fluorescence on TLC plates or by UV analysis after column chromatography. The generalized absorption curves of dinitrophenyl (DNP)-amino acids in acidic and alkaline solutions are shown in Fig. 4.7. 

Figure 7.30. HPLC analysis of pre-column derivatized amino acids (50 pmoles) using Waters AccQ.Tag reagents with reversed-phase chromatography separation and fluorescence detection. Chromatogram courtesy of Waters Corporation.

Einarsson et al. [106] introduced (-t-)-l-(9-fluorenyl)-ethyl chloroformate (41) as a versatile reagent for the simple chiral derivatization of primary and secondary amino acids to give stable, highly fluorescent products, which are readily separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography, or by GC after methylation with diazomethane. The authors also illustrated a selective method using this reagent for the determination of imino acids in the presence of primary amino acids. 

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