Further reagents for the labelling of amino compounds

This compound was originally used for the detection of amino acids on paper chromatograms. More recently, it has been used for the detemination of aminophospho-lipids [388]. Reaction is achieved in chloroform in the presence of triethylamine at room temperature. With a 

3-fold excess of the reagent reaction is complete within 2 h. The labelled derivatives are detected at 342 nm in the column eluent after fluorescence excitation at 228 nm. 

This compound has been synthesized by Nimura et al. [389]. In 0.5 M borate buffer, pH 9.5, it reacts with amino acids within 1 min at room temperature to form naphthylcarbamoyl derivatives. The rapid reaction and the removal of excessive reagent by hydrolysis make N-succinimidyl-l-naphthylcarbamate suitable for automated pre-column derivative formation [390]. The intense fluorescence (excitation at 290 nm, emission at 370nm) allows the determination of sub-picomole quantities. A HPLC system suitable for the separation of the commonly occurring amino acids has been worked out [390], 

DTAF was originally suggested for the cyto- and histo-chemical detection of proteins [391]. Recently, its use for the labelling of secondary amines has been suggested, and a method for the determination of desipramine in plasma in the fmol range was reported [392,393]. 

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