Enantiomer labelling, a method for the quantitative analysis of amino acids.

Enantiomer labelling a method for the quntitative analysis of optically active natural compounds by gas chromatography, involves the use of the unnatural enantiomer as an internal standard. With Chirasil-Val, a chiral stationary phase that is thermally stable up to up to 240 degrees, the enantiomers of amino acids and a variety of other compounds can be separated and quantitated. Incomplete recovery from the sample, incomplete derivatization, hydrolysis and thermal decomposition of the derivative and shifting response factors can be compensated for by adding the unnatural enantiomer. The accuracy of amino acid analysis by enantiomer labelling is equal or superior to that of hitherto known methods. The procedure affords a complete analysis of peptides with respect to both amino acid composition and the optical purity of each amino acid.