Chromatography Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chromatography, including details on column chromatography, gas chromatography (gc), liquid chromatograpy, hplc.

Coralyne cation, a fluorescent probe for general detection in planar chromatography.

Mateos E, Cebolla VL, Membrado L, Vela J, Gálvez EM, Matt M, Cossío FP

Instituto de Carboquímica, CSIC, P.O. Box 549, 50080 Zaragoza, Spain.

A large number of analytes, including non-fluorescent ones, can be sensitively detected by fluorescence scanning densitometry using silica gel HPTLC plates impregnated with a solution of coralyne cation. This is carried out by the variation, increase or decrease, that the corresponding analyte induces on native coralyne emission at a given excitation wavelength. A similar phenomenon was previously described for berberine cation, and Reichardt's dye probes. However, the sensitivity of coralyne in HPTLC detection of non-fluorescent, structurally different analytes (e.g., long-chain alkanes, alcohols, alkylbromides, neutral lipids) is superior to that of the above-mentioned probes. In this work, the analytical viability of this phenomenon for HPTLC detection using coralyne as a probe is explored, and fluorescent responses of a number of analytes on the coralyne system are rationalized in the light of a previously proposed model. This establishes that the resulting intensity for a probe in the presence of a given compound can be explained as a balance between radiative (contribution of non-specific interactions) and non-radiative processes (specific interactions), the latter producing fluorescence quenching. Experimental results and proposed model suggest that this phenomenon may be general for practically all kinds of analytes.

Published 19 March 2007 in J Chromatogr A, 1146(2): 251-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Chromatography Research Today. All Rights Reserved.