ISOLATION OF AMINO-ACIDS FROM NATURAL SAMPLES USING SUBLIMATION

Amino acids have appreciable vapor pressures above 150 degrees C and w ill sublime under partial vacuum at elevated temperatures without any racemization or decomposition. The recoveries of several amino acids i ncluding aspartic acid, serine, glycine, alanine, ol-aminoisobutyric a cid, and valine were optimized by varying the temperature and duration of sublimation. Sublimation has been shown to be a rapid and effectiv e technique for the isolation of amino acids from natural samples for enantiomeric analyses and a good substitute for conventional cation-ex change desalting techniques.