An evaluation of microwave heating for the rapid hydrolysis of peptide samples for chiral amino acid analysis.

The hydrolysis of peptide samples in 6 N deuterium chloride by microwave heating has been investigated. The influence of the power and time of heating on the recovery of the amino acids and on their racemization was studied. A high recovery of sensitive amino acids and minimal racemization, as determined by the amount of deuterium incorporation, is obtained by using an intermediate irradiation power and 30 min reaction time.