Boundary values of binding constants determined by affinity capillary electrophoresis

This study shows that the upper limit of binding (stability) constants determined by mobility shift affinity capillary electrophoresis can be increased from 10⁴ to 10⁶ -10⁹ L/mol if the lowest possible analyte concentration in samples is used (for example, the concentration that gives electrophoretic peaks with a signal-to-noise ratio of 10) and the effective electrophoretic mobility of the analyte is calculated via the parameter a₁ of the Haarhoff-Van der Linde function. The equation to calculate the boundary values of binding constants for 1:1 complexes was derived for the case when the constants cannot be calculated in the usual way. These values are obtained from the inequality: the difference between the ionic mobility of the analyte-ligand complex and the effective electrophoretic mobility of the analyte determined at the lowest ligand concentration in the background electrolyte at which the analyte appears as an undistorted peak in electropherograms is less than or equal to the absolute error in mobility measurements. The application of the equation was illustrated by the example of electrophoretic data for a complex between betulin 3,28-diphthalate and (2-hydroxypropyl)-γ-cyclodextrin. An algorithm to determine the binding constants for strong complexation by mobility shift affinity capillary electrophoresis was suggested.