Amino Acid Profiling from Fingerprints Using Amide Stationary-Phase UPLC-MS

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Forensic Science

Background:

• Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS) is vital for separating and quantifying molecules in complex samples.
• Amino acid analysis is crucial in various fields, including forensics and diagnostics.
• Traditional methods for amino acid analysis can be time-consuming and require derivatization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a UPLC-MS method for the direct quantification of non-derivatized amino acids from fingerprint extracts.
• To assess the suitability of an amide stationary phase for this specific application.
• To evaluate the performance of both triple-quadrupole MS/MS and Time-of-Flight MS (TOF-MS) detectors for amino acid analysis in fingerprints.

Main Methods:

• Extraction of amino acids from fingerprint samples.
• Separation of non-derivatized amino acids using UPLC with an amide stationary phase.
• Quantification using either a triple-quadrupole MS/MS or a TOF-MS detector.

Main Results:

• Successful quantification of non-derivatized amino acids directly from fingerprint samples.
• Demonstration of a simplified and rapid sample preparation protocol.
• Validation of the method's efficiency for analyzing large sample sets.

Conclusions:

• The developed UPLC-MS method offers a fast, simple, and effective approach for amino acid quantification in fingerprints.
• This technique reduces sample preparation complexity, enabling high-throughput analysis.
• The amide stationary phase and MS/MS or TOF-MS detection provide a robust platform for forensic and biochemical analyses.