Evaluation of Monolithic Columns for Determination of Formaldehyde and Acetaldehyde in Sugar Cane Spirits by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) conditions are described for separation of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone (2,4-DNPH) derivatives of carbonyl compounds in a 10 cm long C₁₈ reversed phase monolithic column. Using a linear gradient from 40 to 77% acetonitrile (acetonitrile-water system), the separation was achieved in about 10 min—a time significantly shorter than that obtained with a packed particles column. The method was applied for determination of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in Brazilian sugar cane spirits. The linear dynamic range was between 30 and 600 µg L⁻¹, and the detection limits were 8 and 4 µg L⁻¹ for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, respectively.

Keywords:

• 2
• 4-DNPH
• acetaldehyde
• aldehydes
• formaldehyde
• HPLC
• sugar cane spirits

Financial support and fellowships from FAPESP and CNPq are gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

^a,b LOD and LOQ were defined at the signal to noise ratios of 3 : 1 and 10 : 1, respectively.

^a The confidence limits were estimated at the 95% confidence level from the statistical parameters of the analytical curve (Miller and Miller 1988), considering a triplicate (n = 3) of experiments.