Differential coulometric oxidation following post column-switching high pressure liquid chromatography for fluorescence measurement of unmetabolized folic acid in human plasma

•Coulometric oxidation can generate fluorescent products for enhanced sensitivity.•Differential oxidation near the analyte half-potential increases specificity.•The specificity of EC/FL detection permits simple sample prep without SPE.•Coulometric EC/FL allows subnanomolar detection of plasma unmetabolized folic acid.•The coulometric EC/FL method was validated by comparison to SPE/LC/MS/MS. Although many countries have fortified their grain supplies with folic acid (FA) to decrease the incidence of neural tube defects, others have not due to concerns that this synthetic folate might have some adverse effects. Persistent unmetabolized FA has been found even in plasma from fasted subjects. To facilitate measurement of low levels of folic acid in human plasma, post-column coulometric oxidative cleavage was used to convert poorly fluorescent FA into a highly fluorescent compound determined to be 6-formyl-pterin. To minimize sample work-up and maximize recovery, column-switching HPLC transferred a window of eluate containing the FA from the first column (C8) onto a second column (phenyl-hexyl). The pH of two mobile phases were adjusted to be above and then below a pK of the FA α-carboxyl group, thus promoting separation from compounds coeluting from the C8-column. This permitted sample preparation using only a simple high recovery protein precipitation. Definitive identification of FA in human plasma was accomplished by duplicate injections of sample with the electrochemical voltage set above and below its half-potential. The LOD (S/N=3) was 0.10nM. The intra- and inter-assay CV's were 2.3% and 5%, respectively. Comparison of these results with those obtained by HPLC/MS/MS with stable isotope internal standard showed a slope of 1.00±0.019. This simple, sensitive, and repeatable assay facilitates a more thorough investigation of the response of various human populations to folic acid intake. Post-column differential coulometric electrochemistry can expand the variety of compounds amenable to fluorescence detection.