title: Separation and determination of alpha-amino acids by boroxazolidone formation.
abstract: Reaction of an alpha-amino acid (alpha-AA) with 1,1-diphenylborinic acid (DPBA) leads to the formation of a kinetically stable adduct at pH 2-5 in which both the alpha-amino and the alpha-carboxyl groups are bound to boron forming a cyclic mixed anhydride termed a boroxazolidone. In this adduct, the greater than N:B bond is coordinate, involving the free electron pair of nitrogen, thereby satisfying the octet rule for the second electron shell of boron (Group IIIA). Consequently, the alpha-amino function of the boroxazolidone can be primary, secondary, or tertiary, as demonstrated by boroxazolidone formation with glycine, N-methylglycine, and N,N-dimethylglycine. On reaction with DPBA, the alpha-AA moiety of N-terminal gamma-glutamyl peptides is also derivatized as demonstrated by the formation of a glutathione boroxazolidone. The 1,1-diphenylboroxazolidone adducts of alpha-AA may be separated by reversed-phase (RP)-HPLC (AA-DPBA/RP-HPLC) enabling the derivatization procedure to be used as a precolumn reaction for alpha-AA analysis. Under the conditions we describe here, DPBA is not stably reactive with the epsilon-amino group of lysine. Furthermore, it does not complex with amide bonds of the peptide backbone or to any side chains of the common amino acids. Reaction of an alpha-AA mixture with DPBA, followed by RP-HPLC (AA-DPBA/RP-HPLC) is then a simple method by which to analyze alpha-AA in a mixture with peptides and amines. Precolumn reaction with DPBA may be used to separate peptides from alpha-AA and from those peptides which contain an alpha-AA moiety. Unreacted peptides are bound only weakly to the HPLC column and thus are separated from reacted alpha-amino acids which are retained as 1,1-diphenylboroxazolidones until their selective elution. This method is particularly suited for the analysis of alpha-amino acids that are derived from post-translational modification of protein side chains.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Biochemistry, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Strang
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Henson
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Paz
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gallop
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D023303:Oxazolidinones
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D001896:Boron Compounds; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D023303:Oxazolidinones; C060387:boroxazolidone; C044960:diphenylborinic acid