Chromophoric determination of putrescine, spermidine and spermine with dabsyl chloride by high-performance liquid chromatography and thin-layer chromatography.

A fast and sensitive method for the determination of putrescine, spermidine, spermine and ammonia by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with dabsyl chloride is described. These compounds are converted to their chromophoric dabsyl derivatives and are separated by a normal-phase chromatographic column (mu Porasil, 10 microgram) with 2% acetone in chloroform as isocratic mobile phase. The sensitivity of the method is 20 pmoles. The present method was shown to be a straightforward procedure for estimating polyamines in various rat tissues. The chromophoric derivatives of polyamines are also well separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) on silica gel, and the combination of the HPLC and TL C procedures provides a reliable method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of polyamines.