Ultraviolet detection of amino acids based on their on-column conjugation with cupric cation using a disposable electrophoresis microdevice

A method for fast sensitive ultraviolet detection of amino acids was developed with a disposable electrophoresis microdevice. The microdevice was conveniently constructed by fixing a fused-silica capillary with a sampling fracture to a printed circuit board. During the separation process, the on-column conjugation of amino acids with cupric cation led to the ultraviolet absorption at 232 nm that could be directly used for fast analysis of amino acids. Using 20 mM boric acid (pH 5.3) containing 5 mM cupric cation and 0.015% Tween 20 as running buffer, this method could completely separate lysine, glutamine and serine at a sampling time of 2 s at +210 V and a separation voltage of +1800 V (240 V/cm). The theoretical plate numbers were from 140,000 to 205,000 plates/m. The linear ranges were from 10 to 500 μM for lysine, 20–1000 μM for glutamine and serine. The novel protocol had been successfully used to detect amino acids in beverage samples with recovery more than 85.0%, indicating its advantages and potential analytical application in different fields.