Capillary Electrophoresis in Determination of Low Molecular Mass Organic Acids

Abstract

Abstract-This paper presents overviews the capabilities of capillary electrophoretic techniques to determine low molecular mass organic acids in a variety of aqueous, gas and solid samples. It mainly focuses on short -chain carboxylic acids containing one or more carboxylic groups and possibly some other functional groups (hydroxyl, keto-, amino-etc.). Finally the procedures applied to the determine the acids in different matrices are shortly characterized.The principles of capillary electrophoresis its advantages over gas and liquid chromatographic separation and detection modes are briefly discussed. Finally, the brief overview of the technique is followed by characterization of CE based procedures for the analysis of a variety of samples such as food, environmental, biological etc. for the content of organic acids, mainly those with carboxylic groups.Index Terms-Capillary electrophoresis, low molecular mass organic acids.

Using Capillary Electrophoresis to Quantify Organic Acids from Plant Tissue: A Test Case Examining <em>Coffea arabica</em> Seeds

“…Free zonal capillary electrophoresis (CZE) is a chromatographic separation methodology that, due to its high number of theoretical plates, speed, and relative ease-of-use, is increasingly replacing both GC-MS and high-pressure liquid chromatography as an analytical method for the quantification (particularly for quality control purposes) of anions, cations, amino acids, carbohydrates, and short chain carboxylic acids (SCCAs) 8,9,10 . CZE-based separation of small molecules, including SCCAs, is based two primary principles: the electrophoretic movement of charged ions in an electrical field established across the buffer filling the capillary; and the electro-osmotic movement of the entire buffer system from one end of the capillary to the other, generally towards the negative electrode.…”

“…. Additionally, gaining familiarity with the chemical principals underlying this technology though this protocol will provide researchers with the knowledge base needed to attempt the analysis of other compounds, such as carbohydrates or metals 8,13 . The analytical flexibility of capillary electrophoresis makes it an extraordinarily powerful tool suitable for a myriad of experimental applications.…”