Analysis of free amino acids with unified chromatography-mass spectrometry-application to food supplements.

Amino acids are most often analyzed in reversed-phase liquid chromatography after a derivatization procedure to render them sufficiently hydrophobic and detectable with UV or fluorimetric detection. Simpler methods should be possible to avoid additional chemical reactions. We present an improved method to analyze free amino acids with unified chromatography, that is to say with a wide elution gradient starting with supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) conditions (high percentage of carbon dioxide) and ending with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) conditions (100% co-solvent). The mobile phase composition was carefully adjusted to permit the elution of 21 natural amino acids (among which 19 proteinogenic) with very good peak shapes from a zwitterionic cinchona-based stationary phase (Chiralpak ZWIX(+)). Chiral separation was not desired. The mobile phase finally selected comprised carbon dioxide and a co-solvent (methanol containing 2% water and 20 mM methanesulfonic acid), ranging from 10 to 100% in 7 min followed by 3 min re-equilibration at 25 °C. A reversed pressure gradient (15 to 11 MPa) and a reversed flow rate gradient (3 to 1 mL/min) were applied to avoid reaching the upper pressure limit of the pumping system (40 MPa) and to favor high chromatographic efficiency at every stage of the elution gradient. Detection was achieved with electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI(+)-MS). The method is then fast and straightforward as no derivatization step is necessary, and all isobaric species were chromatographically resolved. To demonstrate the applicability of the method, it was applied to the quantitation of amino acids in food supplements commonly consumed by sportsmen, containing taurine (a common natural amino acid) or branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), namely valine, and the isobaric leucine and isoleucine. A standard addition method was examined for sensitivity, linearity, repeatability and intermediate precision.

A chiral unified chromatography-mass spectrometry method to analyze free amino acids.

In this project, we aimed at analyzing native (or free) amino acids with supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometric detection, with modern instruments and methods, and maintaining as simple a mobile phase as possible to ensure applicability of the method. The purpose was twofold: (i) a generic method allowing for satisfactory elution of a wide range of amino acids (acidic, basic, or neutral residue) and (ii) resolution of the enantiomeric pairs. The Chiralpak ZWIX (+) and (-) stationary phases were selected as they are well-known for the enantioresolution of amino acids in liquid chromatographic modes. A wide range elution gradient, starting with a large concentration of carbon dioxide (90%) and finishing at 100% solvent (methanol containing 70 mM ammonium formate and 7% water) allowed the elution of 18 native proteinogenic amino acids out of 19 injected. In these conditions, enantioselectivity was achieved for 16 of them. The basic amino acids (arginine, histidine, and lysine) were the most difficult to elute in these conditions, resulting in rather poor peak shapes. Cysteine was never observed in any of the conditions tested. Sample application was attempted with two food supplements, tablets containing a mixture of 17 proteinogenic amino acids and capsules containing taurine and theanine that were not present in the standards used for the method development. The sample preparation method was very simple, involving dissolution of the tablets and capsules in acidified water, filtration, and dilution with methanol. Mass spectrometric detection (electrospray ionization with single-quadrupole mass detection) allowed for unambiguous identification of most amino acids, except for the leucine and isoleucine isomers that were not separated by the generic gradient. The observation of taurine and theanine also suggests that the method should be generally applicable to other native amino acids than the proteinogenic amino acids selected for the development of this method. As peak shapes and signal-to-noise ratios could still be improved, further developments are wanted to upgrade this method. Due to the wide gradient (10 to 100% co-solvent in carbon dioxide), the method cannot truly be called either supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) or enhanced-fluidity liquid chromatography (EFLC), but should be related to "unified chromatography" (UC), joining SFC and HPLC. Graphical abstract.