Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2026

High-throughput Synthesis of Carbohydrates and Functionalization of Polyanhydride Nanoparticles
Published on: July 6, 2012
Optimization of carbohydrate silylation for gas chromatography
Elba Rojas-Escudero1, Ana Luisa Alarcón-Jiménez, Patricia Elizalde-Galván
1División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 3000, Mexico D.F CP 04510, Mexico. erojase@servidor.unam.mx
Abstract:
We developed and optimized a new carbohydrate mono- and disaccharides silylation reaction, replacing pyridine and requiring lower reaction temperature and less time. Our method consists of three basic steps. The first one is oxime formation, the second one silylate derivative and the last one gas chromatography separation and quantification with an internal standard. We evaluated several solvents, including acetonitrile, hydroxylamine and aniline. We found aniline to be the best reaction media for oxime formation with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. Among silylation agents we found N,O-bis(trimethyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) was the most efficient. Together these reagents favored both a short analysis time and fewer by-products. We evaluated the method with model solutions containing: arabinose and co-eluting xylose, fructose, glucose, sucrose and salicin (internal standard) and found it suitable for processed food analysis.
Related Concept Videos
Silica Gel Column Chromatography: Overview
Polar components tend to bind strongly to the silica gel, causing them to move slowly through the column. In contrast, nonpolar compounds...
Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS)
A gas chromatograph consists of a long, narrow capillary column with a polysiloxane coating on the inner wall. The coating...
Optimizing Chromatographic Separations
Band broadening refers to spreading solute bands as they travel through the column. This broadening can impact resolution. Plate height (H) represents the length required for one theoretical plate. A lower plate height corresponds to...
Gas Chromatography: Introduction
In GC, a sample is vaporized and mixed with an inert carrier gas (the mobile phase), which transports it through a column.
Gas Chromatography: Types of Columns and Stationary Phases
For an analyte to remain on the column for a sufficient amount of time, it must exhibit some level of compatibility (or...
Supercritical Fluid Chromatography
SFC utilizes a supercritical fluid mobile phase,...

