Abstract:

This study established an efficient method for the detection of methylglyoxal (MGO) and glyoxal (GO) with a gas
chromatograph (GC). The optimum experimental conditions were set as follows: ratio of O-phenylenediamine to α-dicarbonyl
compounds, 67; derivatization time, 10 min; extraction solvent, methylene chloride; ultrasonic extraction time, 15 min; and
the number of extraction, 2. The injector was operated in split mode with a split ratio of 1:1, and the carrier gas (helium)
flow rate through the chromatographic column was 2.0 mL/min. The GC oven temperature was programmed as follows: the
initial oven temperature was set as 40 ℃ and then increased at a rate of 5 ℃/min. The minimum quantitation limits (RSN
approximately equal to 10) and detection limits (RSN approximately equal to 3) for MGO and GO were 0.06 and 0.08 mg/L,
and 0.02 and 0.03 mg/L, respectively. This method was sensitive and efficient.

Key words: methylglyoxal (MGO), glyoxal (GO), gas chromatography (GC)