Separation of porphyrins by capillary electrophoresis in fused-silica and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer capillaries with visible absorbance detection.

A mixture of 5 porphyrins were separated by capillary electrophoresis. A UV-VIS detector was used to detect the separated components. Separation was performed in 2 types of capillaries, i.e. fused-silica and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) plastic capillaries. The concentration limit of detection (CLOD), mass limit of detection (MLOD), and relative standard deviations (RSD) of migration time and area were investigated. LOD was comparable to that of epi-fluorescence detection. LOD was lower when separation was performed in EVA capillary compared to fused-silica capillary. RSD of migration times of the porphyrins when separated in fused-silica capillary ranges between 0.5 to 1.6% and in EVA capillary ranges between 0.3 to 1.2%. Area RSD in fused-silica capillary ranges between 7 to 20% and in EVA capillary ranges between 4.7 to 12.3%. Urine spiked with porphyrins was also analysed by CE using fused-silica and EVA capillaries. Analysis of urine sample spiked with porphyrins showed that stacking effect of porphyrins was observable only in fused-silica and not in EVA capillary. This led to similar LOD in fused-silica capillary to those for EVA capillary.