Development of laser-excited indirect fluorescence detection for high-molecular-weight polysaccharides in capillary electrophoresis.

The separation and detection of native polysaccharides in capillary zone electrophoresis is presented. To provide differences in the electrophoretic mobility, a pH of 11.5 is used to partially ionize the analytes. Detection is made possible by indirect fluorescence, where the charged analytes displace the anionic fluorescing buffer ion to create negative peaks. Detection limits in the picogram range are possible.