Application of Three Ecological Assessment Tools in Examining Chromatographic Methods for the Green Analysis of a Mixture of Dopamine, Serotonin, Glutamate and GABA: A Comparative Study

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 18; p. 5436
• Main Authors: Almalki, Atiah H, Naguib, Ibrahim A, Alshehri, Fahad S, Alghamdi, Badrah S, Alsaab, Hashem O, Althobaiti, Yusuf S, Alshehri, Sameer, Abdallah, Fatma F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07-09-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Accident prevention; Alzheimer's disease; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Autism; Chromatography; Chromatography - methods; Comparative studies; Disease prevention; Dopamine; Dopamine - analysis; GABA; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - analysis; GAPI; glutamate; Glutamic Acid - analysis; Green chemistry; Green Chemistry Technology - methods; Hazardous materials; Mass spectrometry; Metabolites; Methods; NEMI; Neurological disorders; Neurotransmitter Agents - analysis; Neurotransmitters; Parkinson's disease; Pictographs; Psychosis; Qualitative analysis; Schizophrenia; Scientific imaging; Serotonin; Serotonin - analysis; Serotonin - metabolism; γ-Aminobutyric acid; ESA; GAPI; serotonin; NEMI; GABA; dopamine; green chemistry; glutamate
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26185436

The assessment of greenness of analytical protocols is of great importance now to preserve the environment. Some studies have analyzed either only the neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), together or with other neurotransmitters and biomarkers. However, these methods have not been investigated for their greenness and were not compared with each other to find the optimum one. Therefore, this study aims to compare seven published chromatographic methods that analyzed the four neurotransmitters and their mixtures using the National Environmental Method Index, Analytical Eco-Scale Assessment (ESA), and Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI). As these methods cover both qualitative and quantitative aspects, they offer better transparency. Overall, GAPI showed maximum greenness throughout the analysis. Method 6 was proven to be the method of choice for analyzing the mixture, owing to its greenness, according to NEMI, ESA, and GAPI. Additionally, method 6 has a wide scope of application (13 components can be analyzed), high sensitivity (low LOQ values), and fast analysis (low retention times, especially for glutamate and GABA).