FAST SPECIFIC SEPARATION AND SENSITIVE QUANTIFICATION OF BACTERICIDALAND SPORICIDAL ALDEHYDES BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY - EXAMPLE OF GLUTARALDEHYDE DETERMINATION

This article describes the design and the validation of the HPLC deter mination of glutaraldehyde at g/l and mg/l concentrations, after deriv atization by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and using the external standar d method. At low concentrations, the reaction mixture needs to be heat ed and a weight ratio of 500 for the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine reagen t and the glutaraldehyde ensures a linear calibration curve. In contra st, high concentrations do not require heating of the reaction mixture and a weight ratio of 32 proved to be sufficient. The optimized HPLC method has been validated for both ranges of concentrations. Between 1 .25 and 10 mg/l, the content can be determined by the external standar d method, with a repeatability of 0.5%. The detection limit is 0.2 mg/ l. Between 0.31 and 2.5 g/l, the content can also be determined by the external standard method, with a repeatability of 0.4%. Finally, stat istical analysis has demonstrated that aqueous solutions of glutaralde hyde are stable for at least three days at 4 degrees C within the mg t o g range.