The quantification of amino acids in seawater using thin-layer chromatography and fluorimetry

Through the use of dansyl chloride, thin-layer chromatography, and fluorimetry, the dissolved free amino acid composition of estuarine water samples has been quantified. The fluorescent agent, dansyl chloride, is sensitive to both amino and imino acids, and a complex mixture of the dansyl compounds can be separated by using two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. At low concentrations, the fluorescence: concentration ratio is strictly a Beer-Lambert relation, while at higher concentrations it appears to fit an exponential curve. Compounds which contain the simple amino group as well as additional reactive groups have slope relations of more than one, relative to glycine.