Trace analysis of acetaldehyde as fluorogenic derivative by high performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive method is described for the determination of acetaldehyde as a fluorogenic derivative of decahydroacridin-1,8-dione by high performance liquid chromatography. The analytical derivatization is based on the reaction of acetaldehyde in an acidic aqueous system with 1,3-cyclohexanedione and ammonium acetate. The resulting derivative was separated by a reversed-phase C-18 column and monitored with a fluorescent detector (lambda ex, 375nm; lambda em, 512nm). Several parameters affecting the derivatization of acetaldehyde were studied. The linear range of the method for the quantitation of acetaldehyde was between 20 and 800 pmol in aqueous sample (0.5 mL). Application of the method to the analysis of acetaldehyde in plasma was performed.