Direct silylation of Trypanosoma brucei metabolites in aqueous samples and their GC-MS/MS analysis

Abstract

A simple two-step method for the derivatization of polar compounds (lactate, alanine, glycerol, succinate and glucose) using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) was developed. This method allows direct derivatization of aqueous samples wihout sample pretreatment.

The method was used for the analysis of the metabolites of the unicellular organism Trypanosoma brucei. The limits of detection by GC-MS/MS analysis were in the range of 0.02 mgL(-1) for glucose to 0.85 mgL(-1) for lactate.

Keywords

• Aqueous samples
• GC-MS/MS analysis
• Metabolites
• Protozoa
• Trimethylsilylation