Separation and measurement of plant alkaloid enantiomers by RP-HPLC analysis of their Fmoc-Alanine analogs.

Introduction: Ammodendrine (1), anabasine (2) and coniine (3) can cause congenital malformations in livestock. They appear naturally in both enantiomeric forms, and can cause variable physiological responses. A method to measure the enantiomeric ratio of these natural toxins is needed.
Objective: To develop a simple and economical method in order to determine the enantiomeric ratios of piperidine and pyrrolidine alkaloids in small samples of plant material.
Methodology: Mixtures of isolated or purified plant alkaloids were converted to their Fmoc-L-Ala-alkaloid analogues forming diastereomeric mixtures, which were then analysed by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with mass spectrometry (MS) and ultraviolet (UV) detection to determine enantiomeric ratios.
Results: The diastereomeric analogs for ammodendrine, anabasine and nornicotine could be separated and the enantiomeric ratios determined. The Fmoc-L-Ala-coniine analogue was not resolved under the HPLC conditions studied. The enantiomeric ratios of the selected plant alkaloids were measured and found to differ between both location within a species and location between species.
Conclusion: A low-cost HPLC method to analyse the enantiomeric ratio of plant alkaloids containing primary or secondary amine nitrogens via conversion to their respective diastereomeric analogues has been developed.