Gas chromatographic determination of the optical purities of amino acids using N-trifluoroacetyl menthyl esters

Nineteen α-amino acids and one β-amino acid were resolved as their N-TFA menthyl esters by gas-liquid chromatography. Neutral and basic amino acids were well resolved on some conventional packed columns. For the complete resolution of acidic amino acids, a capillary column was used. The results of the applications to some biochemical substances showed that this method is of value for practical usage. The mechanism of the resolution was also investigated and showed that the difference between the derivatives of the enantiomeric pairs in the ability to form intermolecular hydrogen bond contributes essentially to the resolution.