Highly sensitive chiral analysis in on-line combined chiral and achiral media by capillary zone electrophoresis

A new approach is described for highly sensitive chiral analyses by capillary zone electrophoresis, based on using an on-line combination of two capillaries filled with either chiral selective or achiral background electrolytes (BGE). Thus, the BGEs are selected in such a way that the first capillary provides optimum chiral selectivity and the second one optimum detection sensitivity. Direct chiral separations of enantiomers of mandelic, m-methoxymandelic, 3-phenyllactic and 3-indolelactic acids served as a model example for testing the approach proposed. The analyses were performed in a BGE containing acetate as a colon and L-OH-proline or aspartame as a chiral selector. For high sensitive analyses, an arrangement containing on-line combined chiral and achiral media were tested in one or two capillaries coupled via a bifurcation block. A detection limit as low as 10-18 moles was reached in the column-coupling system when the direct chiral separation was performed in the first capillary, filled with 20 mM acetate buffer, pH 4.4, containing 8 mM Cu (II) and 16 mM aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methylester) and separated enantiomers were detected in the second capillary, filled with 20 mM acetate buffer, pH 3.1. The principle described is of general use in cases where the separation and detection of analytes in question require mutually different BGEs to reach the optimum selectivity and sensitivity, respectively.