Rapid Separation of Vitamin K1 Isomers and Vitamin K2 in Dietary Supplements Using UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography with a C18 Column

This application note demonstrates a fast separation of vitamin K₁ trans and cis isomers and menatetrenone (MK-4), a common form of vitamin K₂, by UPC² in less than three minutes on an ACQUITY UPC² HSS C₁₈ SB Column. Vitamin K₁ (phylloquinone) is an essential human nutrient produced in plants, especially green leafy vegetables. The vitamin K₁ in natural products exists mainly as the trans form, while the vitamin K₁ used in food supplementation is often synthetic K₁, which may contain appreciable amounts of the cis form. The trans-vitamin K₁ is bioactive, while the cis-K₁ is not. It is highly desirable to separate the trans- and the cis-vitamin K₁ isomers to truly evaluate the nutritional value of the supplement ingredient.