A method was developed for the determination of phosphoamino acids by capillary zone electrophoresis–laser-induced fluorescence
detection (argon ion laser, excitation at 488 nm and emission at 520 nm) using derivatization with
N-hydroxysuccinimidyl fluorescein-
O-acetate (SIFA). Different variables affecting the derivatization (SIFA concentration, derivatization pH, reaction temperature
and reaction time) and the separation (type, pH and concentration of buffer, applied voltage and injection mode) were investigated
in detail. The optimized separation conditions were 40 mM boric acid buffer (pH 9.2) for background electrolyte, 25 kV for
the separation voltage, 25 °C for the capillary temperature and 5 s at 0.5 psi for the sample injection. Under the optimal
conditions, the SIFA-labeled phosphoamino acids were fully separated within 7 min. The detection limits ranged from 0.1 to
0.3 nM, which are the lowest values reported for capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods. The proposed methodology allowed
the rapid, sensitive and selective determination of phosphoamino acids in hen egg yolk phosvitin by the standard addition
method. The recovery of these compounds in real sample was 94.0–103.5%. The developed method surpasses previously published
CE methods in terms of detection limit, separation time, stability and simplicity of the electrophoretic procedure.
Keywords Capillary zone electrophoresis - Derivatization - Laser-induced fluorescence detection -
N-hydroxysuccinimidyl fluorescein-O-acetate - Phosphoamino acids