CHARACTERIZATION OF BRIGHTENERS IN DETERGENTS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY UTRAVIOLET FLUORESCENCE AND 3-DIMENSIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A method has been developed for the identification of unknown brighten ers in detergents by a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/m ass spectrometry (MS)/ultraviolet (UV)/fluorescence system with MS/MS capability. Ten brighteners from five groups-stilbene, biphenyl stilbe ne, pyrazoline, oxazole, and coumarin derivatives-were separated on a C-8 reverse-phase HPLC column. The UV and fluorescence detectors posit ively located the brightener peaks and differentiated between trans an d cis isomers separated by the chromatographic system. ton-spray (IS)/ MS and IS/MS/MS spectra were then used to identify the structure of un known brighteners in detergent products. An HPLC with a diode-array de tector provided a quick identification check and accurate quantitative data for known brighteners, even on overlapping peaks.