Capillary gas chromatography of amino acids as their tert‐butyldimethylsilyl derivatives in the analysis of serum amino acids in metabolic diseases

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Abstract
Reaction of amino acids with N‐methyl‐N‐(tert‐butyldimethylsilyl)trifluoroaceamide (MTbSTFA) in acetonitrile affords good yields of amino acid derivatives with excellent gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric properties. The single‐step derivatization procedure is highly reproducible. The TBDMS amino acids are stable at room temperature for at least three days. Only a single peak is observed for each amino acid. The procedure allows simultaneous analysis of asparagine and glutamine together with other serum amino acids. Separation is achieved on a borosilicate glass capillary coated with OV‐1. The mass spectra of the TBDMS amino acids possess characteristic diagnostic ions. These properties were used in the sensitive detection by GC‐MS and SIM‐GC‐MS of GABA and pipecolic acid in the serum of a newborn suspected of a Zellweger‐type syndrome, which could not be detected by other methods.