In mixed-mode HILIC chromatography, selectivity of separation can be adjusted by amount of acetonitrile, amount of buffer and buffer pH. Buffer concentration and pH will affect retention of ionizable compounds to a different degree. Retention of neutral compounds can be adjusted by the amount of acetonitrile. Carboxylic acid, three amino acids and two sugars are separated by combination of HILIC and ion-exchange mechanisms. Compounds can be monitored by ELSD, Corona (CAD), LC/MS or low UV. UV-transparent mobile phase /buffer is required for UV monitoring of this mixed-mode separation. This HPLC method can be adopted as general approach for analysis of sugars, amino acids and carboxylic acids.

Two amino acids, aspartic acid and asparagine, are separated on an Obelisc R column by combination of reverse-phase and ion-exchange mechanism. Method can be used for analysis of these and other underivatized amino acids by HPLC with UV, ELSD, CAD and LC/MS detection.

Application Notes: Amino acids are polar ionic compounds which are not retained on reversed-phase column without ion-pairing reagent. In our application, lysine and arginine can be separated from other amino acids. Amino acids with a pH between 3 and 5 and with one basic and one acidic group become very polar. Therefore these amino acids don’t have strong ion-exchange interaction with Primesep C stationary phase. Amino acids with two amino groups still carry positive net charge and can interact with stationary phase by cations-exchange mechanism. pH variation of the mobile phase can be an effective tool to adjust selectivity of separation for zwitter-ionic, basic and acidic compounds. This method can be used for separation of mono-charged compounds from compounds having an extra charge.

Application Columns: Primesep C
Application compounds: Aspartic acid, Glutamic acid, Aspargine, Glycine, Proline, Alanine, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Leucine, Lysine, Arginine
Detection technique: UV, LC/MS, ELSD/CAD