Premium
Confirmation and determination of carboxylic acids in root exudates using LC–ESI‐MS
Author(s) -
Chen Zuliang,
Jin Xiaoyin,
Wang Qinqping,
Lin Yuman,
Gan Li,
Tang Caixing
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of separation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.72
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1615-9314
pISSN - 1615-9306
DOI - 10.1002/jssc.200700234
Subject(s) - chemistry , chromatography , carboxylic acid , malic acid , detection limit , column chromatography , fumaric acid , electrospray ionization , high performance liquid chromatography , succinic acid , mass spectrometry , tartaric acid , citric acid , organic chemistry
Reversed‐phase liquid chromatography with UV detection is of limited applicability in the separation and identification of carboxylic acids because of the column's poor separation efficiency and the non‐selective nature of the UV detector. To address this issue, RP‐LC with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry has been explored for the confirmation and determination of carboxylic acids in plant root exudates, with ESI‐MS providing structural information, high selectivity, and high sensitivity. The separation of 10 carboxylic acids (pyruvic, lactic, malonic, maleic, fumaric, succinic, malic, tartaric, trans ‐aconitic, and citric acid) was performed on a C 18 column using an eluent containing 0.1% (v/v) acetic acid within 10 min, where the acidic eluent not only suppressed the ionization of the carboxylic acids to be retained on the column, but was also compatible with ESI‐MS detection. In addition, an additional standard was used to overcome the matrix effect. The results showed that peak areas correlated linearly with the concentration of carboxylic acids over the range 0.05–10 mg/L. The detection limits of target acids (signal‐to‐noise S/N ratio of 3) ranged from 20 to 30 μg/L. Finally, the proposed method was used for the confirmation and determination of low‐molecular‐weight carboxylic acids in plant root exudates, and provided a simple analytical procedure, including sample processing, fast separation, and high specificity and sensitivity.