ABSTRACT
Pollutants containing various organic functional groups are often converted into their selective derivatives (products) for their detection. Derivatization reactions are widely used in many chromatographic and spectrophotometric analyses. Such derivatization reactions commonly are used in gas chromatography (GC), GC/mass spectrometry (MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography (LC)/MS analyses. Among the derivatization reactions, alkylation, acylation, and silylation are the three general types of reactions that have wide applications in chromatography. An application of derivatization reactions is often to conveniently separate a substance from the sample matrix. As for the detection of a substance, conversion into a suitable derivative may sometimes becomes the only route for its GC, GC/MS, or HPLC measurement. Practically any organic functional group in a compound may be derivatized using an appropriate reagent for its trace analysis by chromatography, MS, or colorimetry. The literature on the colorimetric analysis abounds with such derivatization reactions.
