Determination of α-hydroxy acids and their enantiomers in fruit juices by ligand exchange CE with a dual central metal ion system

The content of α-hydroxy acids and their enantiomers can be used to distinguish authentic and adulterated fruit juices. Here, we investigated the use of ligand exchange CE with two kinds of central metal ion in a BGE for the simultaneous determination of enantiomers of dl-malic, dl-tartaric and dl-isocitric acids, and citric acid. Ligand exchange CE with 100 mM d-quinic acid as a chiral selector ligand and 10 mM Cu(II) ion as a central metal ion could enantioseparate dl-tartaric acid but not dl-malic acid or dl-isocitric acid. Addition of 1.8 mM Sc(III) ion to the BGE with 10 mM Cu(II) ion to create a dual central metal ion system permitted the simultaneous determination of these α-hydroxy acid enantiomers and citric acid. The proposed ligand exchange CE was thus well suited for detecting adulteration of fruit juices.