[Determination of adenine nucleotides by thin-layer chromatography combined with the dansylation reaction]

A new method was developed for the qualitative and quantitative determining of adenine nucleotides, based on thin-layer chromatography and dansilation. Chromatography mixtures 1,4-dioxan-water-ammonia (40:20:8) or 1,4-dioxan-water-propanol 2-ammonia (40:20:10:8) were used for separation of dansilated derivatives of ATP. ADP, AMP. The intensity of luminescence and the areas of spots served as measures of nucleotide quantities and were estimated using a microdensitometer. The method was applied to estimate the adenine nucleotide pool in E. coli K-12 cells.