Hydrazine reagents as derivatizing agents in environmental analysis - a critical review

Hydrazine reagents are a well-known group of derivatizing agents for the de termination of aldehydes and ketones in liquid and gaseous samples. Within this article, the most important hydrazine reagents are critically summariz ed, and their major applications in different fields, including environment al analysis, food chemistry and industrial analysis are introduced. As 2,4- dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) is the basic reagent for several internationa l standard procedures, its properties are discussed in detail. Particular f ocus is directed on the chemistry of the hydrazine reagents, and chemical i nterferences are considered. Recent methods for the determination of variou s oxidants using hydrazine reagents are presented as well. Due to limited s pace, this review does not cover the related field of carbohydrate analysis , although many chemical aspects are similar.