Isolation of Underivatized Amino Acids for Radiocarbon Analysis Using a Porous Graphite Column
Christian Heusser, Lukas Wacker, Negar Haghipour, Timothy I. Eglinton, Thomas M. Blattmann
TL;DR
A new method isolates amino acids for precise radiocarbon analysis using a graphite column, enabling accurate measurements from very small samples.
Contribution
A single-step method using a porous graphite column enables reliable isolation of underivatized amino acids for radiocarbon analysis.
Findings
The method successfully separates and isolates all proteinogenic amino acids in one step.
Radiocarbon measurements using this method show minimal contamination and high reliability.
The blank contribution was calculated as 1.0 ± 0.3 μg C with F14C = 0.6 ± 0.12.
Abstract
We developed a method for isolation and purification of individual underivatized amino acids for compound-specific radiocarbon analysis. Our method employs a semipreparative porous graphitic carbon column that allows for separation and isolation of all proteinogenic amino acids in a single step. To minimize contamination, we utilized a mixed-mode ion-exchange column to further purify the isolated amino acid fractions. Radiocarbon measurements of standard amino acids processed with this method resulted in F14C values closely aligned with their original F14C values. From these measurements, we calculated the blank contribution to 1.0 ± 0.3 μg C with F14C = 0.6 ± 0.12, rendering this approach suitable for ultrasmall samples with enhanced measurement reliability.
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Taxonomy
TopicsIsotope Analysis in Ecology · Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies