Analysis of the compounds in the synthesis mixtures of hydroxy acids by a gradient programmed RP-HPLC with UV/vis and RI detectors

Summary A gradient programmed reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method is described for the quantitative determination of some aldehydes, hydroxy aldehydes, unsaturated aldehydes, hydroxy carboxylic acids, carboxylic acids, alcohols and polyols using an ultraviolet and a refractive index detector in series. The sample matrices are synthesis mixtures of hydroxy carboxylic acids. The structures of the hydroxy aldehyde intermediates are determined by¹³C NMR and the influence of sample preparation on analysis results is discussed. The limits of detection and the precision of the method are evaluated.