RAPID AND SENSITIVE PROCEDURE FOR THE SEPARATION AND QUANTITATION OF D-SERINE AND L-SERINE IN RAT-BRAIN USING GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

A very simple and rapid GC-MS procedure for the separation and quantitation of D- and L-serine has been developed utilizing a conventional bonded-phase capillary column. The procedure involves initial esterification with isobutanol followed by acylation with the chiral derivatizing reagent S-(-)-N-(heptafluorobutyryl)prolyl chloride (HPC). This procedure requires neither extraction nor clean-up steps and is sensitive to 50 pg on-column. Total time of the procedure is under 3 h and derivatives are stable at room temperature for at least 5 days, making this procedure ideal for automated injections. A simple, one-day synthesis of HPC is described which yields > 99.9% optical purity.