An alternative derivatization method for the analysis of amino acids in cerebrospinal fluid by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

• Analysis of l-amino acids by MAD–GC–MS.
• Derivatization with BSTFA.
• Application in CSF samples.

The determination of the concentrations of l-amino acids in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been used to gain biochemical insight into central nervous system disorders. This paper describes a microwave-assisted derivatization (MAD) method using N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) as a derivatizing agent for determining the concentrations of l-amino acids in human CSF by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The experimental design used to optimize the conditions showed that the optimal derivatization time was 3 min with a microwave power of 210 W. The method showed good performance for the validation parameters. The sensitivity was very good, with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.01 μmol L−1 to 4.24 μmol L−1 and limits of quantification (LOQs) ranging from 0.02 to 7.07 μmol L−1. The precision, measured using the relative standard deviation (RSD), ranged from 4.12 to 15.59% for intra-day analyses and from 6.36 to 18.71% for inter-day analyses. The coefficients of determination (R2) were above 0.990 for all amino acids. The optimized and validated method was applied to the determination of amino acid concentrations in human CSF.