Abstract
A general method for the derivatization of alpha-aminophosphonic acids for HPLC analysis is described. The method involves the conversion of the amino functionality to the corresponding 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC) urethane followed by esterification of the phosphonic acid moiety utilizing triethyl orthoformate. The sensitivity is compared to that achievable with a previously described N-trifluoroacetyl diethyl ester procedure on the basis of UV detection. Derivative separation using fluorescence detection is also shown.