Aracyl triflates for preparing fluorescent and UV absorbing derivatives of unreactive carboxylates, amines and other metabolites

Aracyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate) reagents alkylate the unreactive carboxyl groups of betaines. The reagents also derivatise tertiary amines, amine oxides, phosphates and thioethers. A general derivatisation procedure is to dilute the sample with a polar aprotic organic solvent containing a trace of water, followed by adding an appropriate base and the aracyl triflate reagent. Limits of detection were 40 nM for glycine betaine (GB) and carnitine, 0.14 μM for N,N-dimethylglycine, 70 nM for trimethylamine (TMA), and 5.9 μM trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). Limits of detection were improved when derivatisation yield was optimised for different analytes by changing solvent, base and water content of the reaction mixture. Solvents used include acetonitrile, acetone, butanone, dimethoxyethane and dimethoxyethyl ether, with the presence of some water or alcohol tolerated. Suitable bases include the inorganic bases magnesium hydroxide, silver oxide and lithium phosphate. These bases are sparingly soluble in the reaction solvent so sustain weakly basic conditions during derivatisation and can be removed by centrifugation to stop the reaction. This is particularly important for betaine assays since the derivatives are base-sensitive. The information presented here can be used to develop assays for many metabolites using these versatile reagents.