Poly[2-(1-naphthyl)ethyl-p-styrenesulfonate] as polymeric derivatizing reagent for liquid chromatography of fatty acids

Use of derivatization to improve the chromatographic properties and detection selectivity of physiologically important carboxylic acids

In this review, tagging techniques with reagents used for ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), fluorescent (FL), chemiluminescent (CL) and electrochemical detection (ED) for higher carboxylic acids in HPLC are evaluated in terms of the tagging reactions, handling, flexibility, stability of the reagents and the corresponding derivatives, sensitivity and selectivity. Emphasis is given to the applications of these tagging techniques to biologically important carboxylic acids of relatively high molecular mass including free fatty acids, prostaglandins, leukotrienes and thromboxanes etc. Some typical examples are described. Although RIA and GC-MS are powerful techniques for the highly sensitive determination of carboxylic acids, tagging for these techniques is not included in this review because recent progress in tagging methods has been mainly concerned with HPLC detection.

Labeling of free carboxyl groups

The latest trends in the labeling of free carboxyl groups for high-performance liquid chromatography are reviewed. The labeling reagents for fluorescence detection are mainly discussed according to their reaction type (or functional group). Attention is also paid to the reagents used for ultraviolet detection and for enantiomeric separation. The reactivity and sensitivity of the reagents used for the labeling of carboxylic acids are described.