Automating method validation and system suitability testing in HPLC and CE.

Peptides containing histidine at position 2 were observed to undergo spontaneous N-terminal oxidative deamination in aqueous solution in the presence of Ni(II), sulfite, and ambient oxygen. The reaction resulted in the formation of a free carbonyl on the N-terminal alpha-carbon (alpha-ketoamide) and was catalytic with respect to nickel. This oxidative deamination was confirmed by 13C NMR, 1H NMR, mass spectrometry, and chemical tests. No evidence of modification of histidine was found. It was demonstrated that the nickel-dependent N-terminal oxidative deamination also occurred in His-2 peptides using potassium peroxymonosulfate (oxone) as an oxidant. When oxone was used, oxygen was not required for the deamination to proceed. The results suggest that both nickel-catalyzed reactions (sulfite and oxygen, and oxone) produce an imine intermediate that spontaneously hydrolyzes to form the free carbonyl. These findings may provide a physiologically relevant model for oxidative carbonyl formation in vivo, as well as a useful method for producing a site-specific carbonyl on peptides and proteins.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

PubMed1999

Elongation of oligopeptides in a simulated submarine hydrothermal system.

Oligomerization of a peptide was attempted in a flow reactor that simulated a submarine hydrothermal system. When fluid containing glycine repeatedly circulated through the hot and cold regions in the reactor, oligopeptides were made from glycine. When divalent ions (such as copper ions) were added under acidic conditions, oligoglycine was elongated up to hexaglycine. This observation suggests that prebiotic monomers could have oligomerized in the vicinity of submarine hydrothermal vents on primitive Earth.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

PubMed1999

Ultrahigh-pressure reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography: isocratic and gradient elution using columns packed with 1.0-micron particles.

Fused-silica capillaries with inner diameters of 33 microns and lengths of 25-50 cm are slurry-packed with 1.0-micron nonporous octadecylsilane-modified (C18) silica spheres. These columns are used to perform ultrahigh-pressure reversed-phase liquid chromatographic analyses in both isocratic and gradient elution modes. Mobile-phase pressures as high as 5000 bar (72,000 psi) are applied to column inlets to generate more than 200,000 theoretical plates in 6 min (k' approximately 1) for small, organic analytes. Average capacity factors of analytes are found to increase linearly with applied pressure. An electrically driven constant-flow syringe pump capable of generating mobile-phase pressures as high as 9000 bar (130,000 psi) is described. This pump is used in conjunction with an exponential dilution method for the gradient separation of peptides from a tryptic digest on a 27-cm-long capillary packed with 1.0-micron particles. A peak capacity of 300 is demonstrated for a 30-min analysis.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗