High-performance liquid chromatography of 5-fluorouracil after derivatization with 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxycoumarin. Characterization of the derivative and the use of column switching for the improvement of resolution and the enhancement of sensitivity.

The derivatization of 5-fluorouracil with 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxycoumarin has been reported previously; however, the structure of the derivative was not confirmed. The synthesis and purification of the 5-FU derivative is described along with the spectroscopic (MS and NMR) determination that it is labelled at both heterocyclic nitrogens as expected. A column switching HPLC system is also presented which consists of primary separation on a cyanopropyl column followed by a final separation on an ODS column with fluorescence detection. This system removes all interferences from the derivatization system and has a limit of detection for the pure derivative of less than 50 fmol (injection volume = 100 microliters).