New polymeric benzotriazole reagents for off-line derivatizations of amines and polyamines in HPLC

New polymeric reagents are synthesized, based on a polystyrene-bound benzotriazole containing an o-acetylsalicyl or 9-fluorenyl labelling moiety. This is used in an off-line mode, prior to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), for derivatizations of trace primary and secondary amines, polyamines, and related compounds in connection with HPLC. Standards are prepared, characterized by physical and spectral properties, and then used as external standards to determine percent derivatizations. The polymeric reagents are characterized by elemental analyses and loading determinations. The feasibility and applicability of this reagent for derivatization of nucleophiles is confirmed with a number of amines under optimized conditions. The activated labelling moiety, bonded to the polymeric support, makes the derivatization reactions extremely rapid and efficient under mild reaction conditions. This alone provides significant advantages over the analogous solution derivatizations for the same amines. A comparison of solution and solid phase derivatization reactions is reported. The limits of detection are 1 to 2 pmol for polyamines, such as cadaverine, putrescine, and 1,7-diaminoheptane, using the benzotriazole fluorenyl reagent followed by fluorescence detection.