Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and quantitation of phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of 25 amino acids, including those of cysteic acid, 4-hydroxyproline, methionine sulfone, S-carboxymethylcysteine and S-methylcysteine.

A high-performance liquid chromatography system is presented which allows separation and quantitation (in the range 4-1000 pmol) of all common phenylthiohydantoin amino acids, including derivatives of 4-hydroxyproline, methionine sulfone and three differently modified forms of cysteine. By showing the actual solvent gradient during elution (as opposed to the programmed gradient) and by supplying information on the effects of minor changes in solvent-pH, column temperature, flow-rate, and concentration of 2-propanol in the gradient, we make guidelines available for fine-tuning the separation with new Ultrasphere-ODS (C18) columns.