Amino acid and peptide analysis using derivatization with p-nitrophenol-2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetate bis-tetrahydropyranyl ether and capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection.

The amine derivatization reagent p-nitrophenol-2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetate bis-tetrahydropyranyl ether (NDTE) was used in conjunction with capillary electrophoresis (CE) and electrochemical detection (EC) for the pre-separation derivatization of primary amine analytes present in aqueous solution. Glycine, several dipeptides and angiotensin II were used as model analytes. A miniaturized EC detection cell was designed and fabricated, which featured a fractured-joint field decoupler with a fixed end-column carbon fiber electrode. When a series of glycine and angiotensin II calibration solutions were derivatized with NDTE followed by CE-EC determination, linear calibration plots resulted with pre-derivatization concentration limits of detection of 500 nM (106 attomoles on-column) and 6 microM (1.275 femtomoles on-column), respectively.