Binary Fluorous Alkylation of Biogenic Primary Amines with Perfluorinated Aldehyde Followed by Fluorous Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis

We have developed a novel method for the determination of biogenic amines (dopamine, norepinephrine, 3-methoxytyramine, normetanephrine, serotonin, tyramine, tryptamine, 5-methoxytryptamine, and histamine) utilizing liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS/MS) combined with a separation-oriented derivatization technique. Using this approach, primary amino groups in the target amines were selectively dialkylated with a perfluorinated aldehyde reagent (2H,2H,3H,3H-perfluoroundecan-1-al) through reductive amination. The derivatives were directly injected onto an LC column containing perfluoroalkyl-modified stationary phase and were separated via gradient elution using a water/methanol/trifluoroacetic acid mixture and trifluoroethanol with formic acid as mobile phases. Matrix-induced signal suppression effects were eliminated because the binary fluorous-labeled amines were strongly retained on the fluorous-phase LC column, whereas the nonfluorous derivatives, including matrix components and monofluorous-labeled compounds such as the derivatization reagent, were poorly retained under the separation conditions. The linear dynamic ranges of the target amines were established over a concentration range of 0.01–1 nM (r > 0.9978), and the limits of detection were found to be 7.8–26 amol on column. The feasibility of this method was further evaluated by applying it to human plasma samples.