title: Quantitative enantioseparation of amino acids by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography applied to non-terrestrial samples.
abstract: This work presents an improved analytical procedure for the resolution and quantification of amino acid enantiomers by multidimensional gas chromatography. The procedure contains a derivatization step, by which amino acids were transformed into N(O,S)-ethoxycarbonylheptafluorobutyl esters. It was optimized for the resolution of non-proteinogenic amino acids in the matrix of complex non-terrestrial samples. The procedure has proven to be highly sensitive and shows a wide linearity range with 0.005-3 pmol detection limits for quantitative determinations. The developed procedure was tested on a sample of the Murchison meteorite, for which obtained chromatograms show excellent peak resolution, minimal co-elution and peak overlap. We conclude that comprehensive two dimensional chromatography, in combination with the optimized derivatization method is a highly suitable technique for the analysis of samples with very limited quantities and containing potentially prebiotic molecules, such as interstellar ice analogs and meteorites.
authors.affiliation: University Nice Sophia Antipolis, ICN UMR 7272, Nice, France.
authors.forename: Iuliia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Myrgorodska
authors.affiliation: University Nice Sophia Antipolis, ICN UMR 7272, Nice, France; Institut National de Chimie, CNRS, France.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meinert
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zita
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS-Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: le Sergeant d'Hendecourt
authors.affiliation: University Nice Sophia Antipolis, ICN UMR 7272, Nice, France. Electronic address: Uwe.Meierhenrich@unice.fr.
authors.forename: Uwe J
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Meierhenrich
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D019110:Meteoroids; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids
keywords: Amino acids; Chirality; Enantioseparation; GC×GC; Non-terrestrial samples