Constant pressure-assisted head-column field-amplified sample injection in combination with in-capillary derivatization for enhancing the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis

In this work, a novel method combining constant pressure-assisted head-column field-amplified sample injection (PA-HC-FASI) with in-capillary derivatization was developed for enhancing the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis. PA-HC-FASI uses an appropriate positive pressure to counterbalance the electroosmotic flow in the capillary column during electrokinetic injection, while taking advantage of the field amplification in the sample matrix and the water of the “head column”. Accordingly, the analytes were stacked at the stationary boundary between water and background electrolyte. After 600 s PA-HC-FASI, 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole as derivatization reagent was injected, followed by an electrokinetic step (5 kV, 45 s) to enhance the mixing efficiency of analytes and reagent plugs. Standing a specified time of 10 min for derivatization reaction under 35 °C, then the capillary temperature was cooled to 25 °C and the derivatives were immediately separated and determined under 25 °C. By investigating the variables of the presented approach in detail, on-line preconcentration, derivatization and separation could be automatically operated in one run and required no modification of current CE commercial instrument. Moreover, the sensitivity enhancement factor of 520 and 800 together with the detection limits of 16.32 and 6.34 pg/mL was achieved for model compounds: glufosinate and aminomethylphosphonic acid, demonstrating the high detection sensitivity of the presented method.