SINGLE-RUN ANALYSIS OF RETINAL ISOMERS, RETINOL AND PHOTOOXIDATION PRODUCTS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was develop ed to allow the rapid separation, in a single run, of a mixture of the main retinal isomers (all-trans, 13-cis, 9-cis), all-trans-retinol, a nd of the two major photooxygenated photoproducts (5,8-peroxyretinal a nd 5,6-epoxyretinal). The mixture was separated by HPLC on an octadecy l (ODS) column with 16% (v/v) diethyl ether in hexane as mobile phase and anthracene as the internal standard. A commercial type cosmetic fo rmulation containing 0.05% all-trans-retinal was analyzed successfully for this analyte. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.