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Updated: Oct 11, 2026

Post Column Derivatization Using Reaction Flow High Performance Liquid Chromatography Columns
Published on: April 26, 2016
Derivatization of ephedrine with o-phthaldialdehyde for liquid chromatography after treatment with sodium
R Herráez-Herández1, P Campíns-Falcó
1Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain.
Abstract:
The usefulness of the reaction with NaClO followed by derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) has been investigated for the chromatographic analysis of ephedrine. The influence of parameters affecting the two-stage reaction has been evaluated, including concentration of NaClO, time of reaction, temperature and pH. On the basis of these studies, conditions for the pre-column and (automated) post-column determination of ephedrine are presented. The described conditions have been applied to the measurement of ephedrine in the concentration intervals 0.2-20.0 microg/ml and 2.0-50.0 microg/ml for the pre-column and post-column methods, respectively. The possibility of applying the NaClO/ OPA-NAC method to other primary, secondary and tertiary derivative amphetamines has also been evaluated.
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