High-Throughput LC-MS/MS Method for Chiral Amino Acid Analysis Without Derivatization

Abstract

d-Amino acids have recently attracted much attention in various research fields including medical, clinical, and food industry due to their important biological functions that differ from l-amino acid. Most chiral amino acid separation techniques require complicated derivatization procedures in order to achieve the desirable chromatographic behavior and detectability. This chapter describes a highly sensitive analytical method for the enantioseparation of chiral amino acids without any derivatization process using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The method allows the simultaneous analysis of 18 d-amino acids with high sensitivity and reproducibility. Additionally, this chapter also focuses on the application of the method to real samples for the quantification of targeted amino acids.