Sensitive determination of biogenic amines by capillary electrophoresis with a new fluorogenic reagent 3-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde.

An effective approach was proposed to the derivatization of seven biogenic amines using 3-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde (FBQCA) as a fluorogenic reagent. The sensitive determinations of these derivatives were achieved by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. The derivatization and electrophoretic conditions have been optimized. A running buffer was composed of mixtures of 25 mM pH 9.5 boric acid, 25 mM SDS, and 27% ACN. At 25 degrees C and 22.5 kV, the baseline separation of the derivatives was accomplished in 13 min. The detection limit (S/N=3) was found as low as 0.4 nM. The proposed method was validated by the linearity of two orders magnitude and correlation coefficient in the range 0.9969-0.9998. Also, the procedure was successfully applied to the determination of biogenic amines in soy sauce, fish and wine samples.