I have access to a HPLC-FL system that I would like to use if possible. The other option I have is to use an old (mid-90s) ecd that has not been used in over a decade and would need to be serviced. Any info/suggestions would be much appreciated.
sugars and commonly used HPLC systems do not go together well... I would try the electrochemical detector in PAD mode, but be aware that the older versions tend to have major drift and should be recalibrated VERY frequently; try and get a new electrode, they are more stable.
Sugars barely absorb so UV-Vis does not work, they have no fluorescence so fluorscen also doe snot work. RI could work, the detectors are fairly cheap but the senstivity is low.
If you do not have many assays I would recommend instead using the enzymic colorimetric kits.
I will suggest to use RI or ELSD detector. You might need a sugar column which is not cheap， or you can choose a NH2-column which is easy to find and not expensive but might not be good to seperate fructose and glucose.
As stated by Catherine , sugars do not fluoresce. RI and ELSD are the most commonly used methods by HPLC. I am not a fan of using ECD for most sugars. The detectors and cells are very fragile and subject to instability and fouling with use. Many users have trouble getting them to work well. Your older ECD may need a great deal of work to restore its performance, but may worth looking into initially, since you already have it. However, the same can be said about ELSD and CAD detectors too. * ECD, ELSD and CAD are all detector types which are best suited to users with advanced levels of chromatography experience. All are expensive to use and operate, plus require regular detailed cleaning, multilevel calibrations (sometimes non-linear) for each sample type (every time you use them). This makes refractive index (RI) detection the easiest mode to use, but it is limited to isocratic analysis only and the overall sensitivity is very poor compared to the other detection methods. It is also extremely sensitive to small temperature variations. If your sample concentrations are not too low, RI may work fine.
Once a suitable detector is chosen, the methods/analysis are easy to run (see example with an ELSD using an inexpensive C18 column!), but the sample matrix that they are found in can make things more difficult. Sample preparation, before analysis, is very important.
Here is a link to an example of sugar separation using an ELSD; Article Fat Soluble Vitamins and Sugars by ELSD
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