IMPROVED SEPARATION OF 6 HARMANE ALKALOIDS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

The beta-carboline alkaloids of the harmane group (harmine, harmol, ha rmaline and harmol) are found at high levels in some plants and occur in many natural foodstuffs and beverages. Both harmane and norharman a lso occur naturally in mammalian neural tissues. The harmane alkaloids are often difficult to fully fractionate using conventional high-perf ormance liquid chromatography. We report here the successful separatio n of a mixture of six harmane alkaloids (harmane, norharman, harmine, harmaline, harmol and harmalol) to baseline resolution using micellar electrokinetic chromatography. The alkaloids were detected by UV absor ption using diode-array spectrophotometry, which allowed characterizat ion of individual peaks. The fractionation was rapid and was highly re producible, with complete resolution of all six compounds within 14 mi n. Harmalol could also be detected directly using laser-induced fluore scence.