Use of metal complexation in non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis systems for the separation and improved detection of tetracyclines

Metal complexation in non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis systems was evaluated for the separation and improved detection of tetracycline antibiotics using laser-induced fluorescence detection. It was found that three factors were important for the choice of complexing agent: (i) it should be soluble in the organic solvent used for the separation, (ii) it should have a sufficient fast complexing rate so as not to invalidate the electrophoretic separation and, (iii) it should give a large increase in the fluorescence intensity. Mg2+ ions were found to be the most suitable ions for the separation of the tetracyclines as the acetate salt of magnesium is very soluble in organic solvents and only a relatively low current was generated during electrophoresis making it possible to use high concentrations of the complexing metal ion. Metal complexation strongly intensified the fluorescence of tetracyclines and all organic solvents investigated further intensified the fluorescence, e.g. dimethylformamide improved the fluorescence of the oxytetracycline metal complex by a factor of 34 compared to water. However, magnesium acetate was not sufficiently soluble in dimethylformamide and therefore N-methylformamide, improving the fluorescence intensity by only a factor of 9, was used. It was demonstrated that the method can be used for the detection of tetracyclines at the ppb level in milk and plasma. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.