Rapid and simultaneous determination of twenty amino acids in complex biological and food samples by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with the aid of experimental design after ethyl chloroformate derivatization.
Amino acids play a vital role as intermediates in many important metabolic pathways such as the biosynthesis of nucleotides, vitamins and secondary metabolites. A sensitive and rapid analytical method has been proposed for the first time for the simultaneous determination of twenty amino acids using solid-phase microextraction (SPME). The protein samples were hydrolyzed by 6M HCl under microwave radiation for 120 min. Then the amino acids were derivatized by ethyl chloroformate (ECF) and the ethoxy carbonyl ethyl esters of amino acids formed were extracted using SPME by direct immersion.