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A versatile method for stable carbon isotope analysis of carbohydrates by high‐performance liquid chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Boschker H. T. S.,
MoerdijkPoortvliet T. C. W.,
van Breugel P.,
Houtekamer M.,
Middelburg J. J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.3804
Subject(s) - chemistry , isotope ratio mass spectrometry , chromatography , derivatization , column chromatography , mass spectrometry , high performance liquid chromatography , isotopes of carbon , isotope , ion chromatography , stable isotope ratio , gas chromatography , environmental chemistry , total organic carbon , physics , quantum mechanics
We have developed a method to analyze stable carbon isotope ( 13 C/ 12 C) ratios in a variety of carbohydrates using high‐performance liquid chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (HPLC/IRMS). The chromatography is based on strong anion‐exchange columns with low strength NaOH eluents. An eluent concentration of 1 mM resulted in low background signals and good separation of most of the typical plant neutral carbohydrates. We also show that more strongly bound carbohydrates such as acidic carbohydrates can be separated by inclusion of NO 3 −as an inorganic pusher ion in the eluent. Analyses of neutral carbohydrate concentrations and their stable carbon isotope ratios are shown for plant materials and marine sediment samples both at natural abundance and for 13 C‐enriched samples. The main advantage of HPLC/IRMS analysis over traditional gas chromatography based methods is that no derivatization is needed resulting in simple sample treatment and improved accuracy and reproducibility. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.