Abstract
A simple and sensitive fluorometric method for the determination of vanillin is described. Vanillin gave an intense blue fluorescence (excitation maximum at 337nm and emission maximum at 400nm) in an alkaline medium after reaction with 4, 5-dimethyl-o-phenylenediamine in an acidic medium. Vanillin was determined in the range of 1-2000ng ml-1, and the relative standard deviation at 10ng ml-1 vanillin was 1.80% (n=10). The fluorescent product from the vanillin was identified as 2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-5, 6-dimethylbenzimidazole by comparison with the authentic sample separately synthesized. The application of this fluorometric method to other aldehydes was examined.
