Marfey's reagent for chiral amino acid analysis:: A review

The present paper describes characteristics and application of Marfey's reagent (MR) including general protocols for synthesis of the reagent and diastereomers along with advantages, disadvantages and the required precautions. Applications, and comparison with other derivatizing agents, for the resolution of complex mixtures of DL-amino acids, amines and non-proteinogenic amino acids, peptides/amino acids from microorganisms, cysteine residues in peptides, and evaluation of racemizing characteristics have been discussed. Separation mechanisms of resolution of amino acid diastereomers and replacement of Ala - NH2 by suitable chiral moieties providing structural analogs and different chiral variants and their application as a derivatizing agent to examine the efficiency, and reactivity of the reagent have been focussed. Use of MR for preparing CSPs for direct enantiomeric resolution has also been included.