Capillary zone electrophoresis of serum proteins: study of separation variables

Electrophoresis of serum proteins is one of the traditional applications of zone electrophoresis. Whereas electrophoresis in supporting media uses usually 5,5'-diethylbarbiturate at pH 8.6 as the buffer, in capillary zone electrophoresis with on-line UV detection, this electrolyte is of little use because of its high UV absorbance. For that reason, a number of operational electrolytes differing in composition were tested for use in capillary electrophoresis of serum proteins. The influence of the pK(A) of co-ions and counter ions and the concentration of the operational electrolyte was examined. If 0.1 M methylglucamine-0.1 M epsilon-aminocaproic acid or 0.1 M methylglucamine, -0.1 M gamma-aminobutyric acid is used as the operational electrolyte, capillary electrophoresis separates serum proteins into more than ten zones.