Determination of the absolute configuration of selenomethionine from antarctic krill by RP-HPLC/ICP-MS using chiral derivatization agents

A fast and sensitive method was developed for the determination of the absolute configuration of selenomethionine. The enantiomers of selenomethionine were converted into diastereomeric isoindole derivatives by reaction with o-phthaldialdehyde and N-isobutyryl-l-cysteine. This easy-to-handle reaction proceeds quantitatively in a few minutes at room temperature. Separation and detection of the diastereomers was achieved by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/ICP-MS) using a conventional C18 reversed-phase column. Detection limits of about 4 μg L^-1 were obtained. The method was applied to the determination of the configuration of selenomethionine extracted from antarctic krill, which turned out to possess the l-configuration.