DISCUSSIONTable I presents the composition of the six solutions used in this study. These solutions were all 6N in HC1. They varied in complexity from 4 to 14 components. The salt/amino acid ratio ranged from 1.55 to 5290. Both low and high voltage electrophoresis caused the amino acids to be separated into three groups., two migrated toward the cathode and one migrated toward the anode-i.e., neutral, basic, and acidic amino acids, respectively. The basic amino acids were displaced as much as 10 cm toward the cathode while the neutrals migrated 1 to 3 cm toward the cathode. The metal cations were displaced toward the cathode. In the case of the high voltage runs, the basic amino acids were displaced further toward the cathode than the metal cations present. It is noted that under high voltage conditions, solutions 5 and 6 give slightly different results from the others with regard to amino acid migration. In these instances, the neutral amino acids were split into two bands. One remained very close to the spot zone, while the other was displaced about 2 to 3 cm from the spot zone. Since these solutions differed from the others by containing /3-alanine, methionine, aspartic acid, isoleucine, and valine, one or all of these materials are responsible for the band in the vicinity of the spot zone. No attempt was made to ascertain which of these amino acids were involved.Comparison of Tables II and III indicates clearly that high voltage electrophoretic desalting is more effective than low voltage applications. Even in the case of the simplest solution. No. 3, 9% of the iron cation remained with the basic amino acid band after the low voltage run was completed.The variations noted between high voltage runs 4 and 5 and between runs 6 and 7 are probably due to slight changes in experimental conditions during the course of the runs involved. The data shown in Table IV made this a plausible explanation. In this case, the runs were closely monitored specifically with respect to temperature. Not* only were the results very consistant, but they also demonstrated the effect of varying the run time.These data clearly show that electrophoretic desalting is practical for the preparation of amino acid concentrates prior to derivatization. The potential of this technique as a step in a fully automated procedure for the analysis of amino acids in geological sample is under further investigation.