Determination of alcohols in essential oils by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection after chromogenic derivatization

Abstract An HPLC-UV method to determine compounds having a hydroxyl functional group in plant essential oils is developed. The sample is diluted with 1,4-dioxane and the analytes are derivatized with phthalic anhydride. The derivatives (phthalates hemiesters) are separated on a C8 column using an acetonitrile (ACN)/water gradient. Separation conditions were optimized using the DryLab® method development software. For the alcohols and phenols present in mint and rose essential oils, optimization led to a ca. 40 min gradient time and a column temperature of 8 °C. The alcohol and its derivatives were identified using HPLC with mass spectrometry (MS) detection. A large sensitivity enhancement w…