Abstract
Disaccharides in a mixture are reduced to the corresponding disaccharide alditols with sodium borohydride and analysis is performed as trimethylsilyl or trifluoroacethyl derivatives by gas chromatography. Trifluoroacetylation of carbohydrates with trifluoroacetic anhydride is accomplished in N, N-dimethylformamide in a few minutes at room temperature. Quantitative analysis in microscale is achieved both by the extraction of trimethylsilyl derivatives with n-hexane from the reaction mixture and by the use of an electron capture detector sensitive to TFA derivatives. Determination limits of 0.5μg of disaccharide as TMS derivative and 0.1 μg as TFA derivative are successfully achieved.
