Miniaturized capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection: Fast separation and detection of bioactive amines

A novel miniaturized analytical system for fast separation and detection of bioactive amines, based on the coupling of a micromachined capillary electrophoresis ( CE) system with a Cu amperometric detector ( CE-AD) is described. Tryptamine, tryptophan, and tyramine could be detected down to the 1.5 x 10(-6) x 5.8 x 10(-7) M level with linearity up to the 2.0 x 10(-4) M level examined. The injection-to-injection reproducibility for analytes in peak current ( RSD < 3.6%) and for migration times ( RSD < 1.4%) were excellent. While the concept of miniaturized separation/detection systems is presented within the framework of food samples, such devices should be attractive for fields such as environment and clinic as an alternative to conventional CE and mu-CE.