A simple analytical workflow is described for gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS)-based chiral profiling of secondary amino acids (AAs) in biological matrices. The sample preparation is carried out directly in aqueous biological sample extracts and involves in situ heptafluorobutyl chloroformate (HFBCF) derivatization-liquid-liquid microextraction of nonpolar products into hexane phase followed by subsequent formation of the corresponding methylamides from the HFB esters by direct treatment with methylamine reagent solution. The (O, N) HFB-butoxycarbonyl-methylamide AA products (HFBOC-MA) are separated on a Chirasil-L-Val capillary column and quantitatively measured by GC-MS operated in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNaturally occurring secondary amino acids, with proline as the main representative, contain an alpha-imino group in a cycle that is typically four-, five-, and six-membered. The unique ring structure exhibits exceptional properties-conformational rigidity, chemical stability, and specific roles in protein structure and folding. Many proline analogues have been used as valuable compounds for the study of metabolism of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and for the synthesis of compounds with desired biological, pharmaceutical, or industrial properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous industrial organic pollutants such as aromates, alkoxyalcohols, other organic solvents and monomers are absorbed, metabolized, and finally excreted in urine mostly as carboxylic acids that are determined as biomarkers of exposure. For a number of these xenometabolites, biological limits (levels of biomarkers in biological material) have been established to prevent damage to human health. Till now, most of the analytical procedures used have been optimized for one or a few analytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFL-amino acids (L-AAs) play different important roles in the physiology of all living organisms. Their chiral counterparts, D-amino acids (D-AAs) are increasingly being recognized as essential molecules in many biological systems. Secondary amino acids with cyclic structures, such as prolines, exhibit conformational rigidity and thus unique properties in the structural and protein folding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA simple analytical workflow is described for gas chromatographic-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomic profiling of protic metabolites, particularly amino-carboxylic species in biological matrices. The sample preparation is carried out directly in aqueous samples and uses simultaneous in situ heptafluorobutyl chloroformate (HFBCF) derivatization and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), followed by GC-MS analysis in single-ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The protocol involves ten simple pipetting steps and provides quantitative analysis of 132 metabolites by using two internal standards.
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