Capillary electrochromatographic separation of aromatic amino acids possessing peptides using porphyrin derivatives as the inner wall modifiers

Two different porphyrin derivatives (H2TPP(m-OPh)(4) and Rh(HI)TPP(m-OPh)(4)) were investigated with respect to their capability to help resolution of five model aromatic peptides in capillary electrophoresis/open tubular capillary electrochromatography. Though the main separation mechanism was preferentially based on the ionic properties of the separated analytes, involvement of particularly H2TPP(m-OPh)(4)-peptide interactions at alkaline pH (8.0) was clearly demonstrated. In combination with Tris-phosphate buffer, a speed up of the separation was observed at pH 2.25 (particularly if Rh(III)TPP(m-OPh)(4) was used as capillary coating); in spite of the speed up of the separation the selectivity of the system was sufficient and resulted in a complete separation of the five model peptides. It can be expected that Rh(III)TPP(m-OPh)4 capillary coating in combination with Tris-phosphate buffer can be generally used for a considerable speeding up of lengthy separations of peptides in acidic media with some decrease in the separation power of the system. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.