This chapter illustrates the usefulness of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the analysis of amino acids, and both normal and chiral separations are covered. In order to provide a general description of the main results and challenges in the biomedical field, some relevant applications and reviews on CE of amino acids are tabulated. Furthermore, some detailed experimental procedures are shown, regarding the CE analysis of amino acids in body fluids, in microdialysate, and released upon hydrolysis of proteins. In particular, the protocols will deal with the following compounds: (1) underivatized aminoacids in blood; (2) γ-Aminobutyric acid, glutamate, and L-Aspartate derivatized with Naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde; (3) hydrolysate from bovine serum albumine derivatized with phenylisothiocyanate. By examining these applications on real matrices, the capillary electrophoresis efficiency as tool for Amino Acid analysis can be ascertained.
Keywords: Amino acids; Bioanalytical applications; Capillary zone electrophoresis; Chiral separations; Micellar electrokinetic chromatography.