The determination of N1-acetylspermine in mouse liver.

N1-Acetylspermine has been postulated to be an intermediate in the conversion of spermine to spermidine. This compound, together with N1-acetylspermidine has now been detected in the liver of mice which were pretreated with tetrachloromethane. The following methods were used for the identification of N1-acetylspermine: (a) High-pressure liquid-chromatography of the non-derivatized amines on a reversed-phase column, using octane sulfonate for ion-pairing. (b) Thin-layer chromatography of the dansyl derivatives. (c) Mass spectrometry of the dansyl derivatives. Both chromatographic methods allowed the quantitative estimation of N1-acetylspermine and N1-acetylspermidine in the liver of tetrachloromethane-treated animals.