Tailor-made derivatizing agents for carbonyl compounds using liquid chromatography

A new approach for the synthesis and application of tailor-made derivatizing agents for liquid chromatography is presented. The s-triazine ring serves as the backbone for these substances. Synthesis is performed in three steps based on substitution reactions of cyanuric chloride. A chromophor or fluorophor, a reactive group and a third moiety intended to modify the polarity of the derivatizing agent are coupled to cyanuric chloride. The three groups may be selected freely from molecules which carry functional groups which might be linked to cyanuric chloride. As an example, the synthesis and application of a respective reagent for the determination of aldehydes and ketones using HPLC with fluorescence detection is carried out. Baseline separation of the derivatives and low limits of detection (1.5×10⁻⁹ mol/l for formaldehyde, 2.0×10⁻⁹ mol/l for acetaldehyde and 3.0×10⁻⁹ mol/l for p-tolualdehyde) are obtained with the new versatile reagent.