Gas chromatographic determination of serum branched-chain alpha-keto acids derivatized by extractive alkylation.

The procedure presented for gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of alpha-keto acids is relatively simple, requiring only a few steps for the formation of derivatives suitable for measurement. The recoveries of the branched-chain alpha-keto acids varied from 92.7% to 106.7%, being sufficiently good especially when smaller amounts of the alpha-keto acids were added to serum. In addition, the coefficients of variation are satisfactorily small, also for biological samples. The measured values of branched-chain alpha-keto acids correspond well with those presented earlier by different methods. There exists a slight but insignificant difference between women and men, the values being lower in sera of women for the three branched-chain alpha-keto acids studied.