MICROCHIP CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS WITH AN INTEGRATED POSTCOLUMN REACTOR

A glass microchip with a postcolumn reactor was fabricated to conduct postseparation derivatization using o-phthaldialdehyde as a fluorescen t ''tag'' for amino acids. This miniaturized separation device was con structed using standard photolithographic, wet chemical etching, and b onding techniques. Effects of the reagent stream on separation efficie ncy were investigated. In addition, a novel gated injector was demonst rated which maintains the integrity of the analyte, buffer, and reagen t streams.