Application of N-(9-acridinyl)maleimide as a fluorescent detection reagent of cysteine and related thiols and disulfide compounds on thin-layer chromatogram.

Many methods are available for the detection of sulfur-containing organic compounds on chromato grams.Some of them, such as sodium nitropruside1) and 4,4'-bis(dimethylamino)diphenylcarbinol,2) are not specific for thiols, while others, such as 2,2'-dithiobis (5-nitropyridine) (DTNP)3) and 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitro benzoic acid) (DTNB)4) are selective reagents for thiols.Recently, a fluorescent method using palladium chloride-calcein spray reagents5) improved the detection