Abstract
We have developed a new method for the high‐speed separation and high‐sensitivity detection of complex oligosaccharides based on microchip electrophoresis (ν‐CE) with light‐emitting diode (LED) confocal fluorescence detection. Oligosaccharides labeled with 8‐aminopyrene‐1,3,6‐trisulfonate (APTS) were found to strongly adsorb to the surface of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) microchips. Accordingly, three classes of major dynamic coating additives were systematically investigated, and cellulose derivatives were found to specifically suppress such adsorption and allow high‐performance separation on PMMA chips. Additive concentration, buffer pH and applied field strength were found to be key factors in the high‐performance separation& of APTS‐labeled oligosaccharides on PMMA chips. Under optimal conditions, 15 oligosaccharides in dextrin hydrolysate can be separated within 45 s with an electrophoretic separation efficiency of over 400 000 theoretical plates per meter. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values of migration times of fourteen oligosaccharides were less than 0.50% between six different channels, and the detection limit for APTS‐labeled glucose was about 1.98×10^−8^ mol/L or 8.61 amol with a signal‐to‐noise ratio (S/N) of 3. The high speed, high efficiency and high sensitivity of this μ‐CE‐based method indicate that it can be widely applied to analysis of complex oligosaccharides.