title: Electron-capture detection: difluorobenzyl and related electrophores.
abstract: Difluorobenzyl derivatives (several isomers were tested) of 4-hydroxyacetophenone were synthesized and found to have similar properties (retention and response) by both reversed-phase HPLC and GC-ECD relative to each other, and also relative to that of a corresponding conventional pentafluorobenzyl derivative. The same was true for a representative difluorobenzyl derivative of thymine and 1-naphthoic acid. Overall, the responses by GC-ECD for the same core structure were only about two- to four-fold lower for a difluorobenzyl compared to a corresponding pentafluorobenzyl derivative. This makes a difluorobenzyl derivative attractive as an HPLC-UV retention marker, and sometimes as a substitute for a pentafluorobenzyl derivative (to help overcome an interference) in a method based on detection by electron capture. We also observed, somewhat as an aside, that the GC-ECD response of the benzyl derivative of 4-hydroxyacetophenone was only seven-fold lower than that of the corresponding pentafluorobenzyl derivative, and that this former benzyl derivative gave a 2.10(4) higher response than acetophenone. Thus, replacing the ring hydrogen atoms of a benzyl group with fluorine atoms had a relatively small impact on both the hydrophobicity and electron capture properties of the compounds tested here.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bouvé College of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Barnett Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Giese
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005464:Fluorobenzenes / Q000032:analysis*; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000032:analysis*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D005466:Fluorocarbons
chemical_list: D005464:Fluorobenzenes; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; C025063:pentafluorobenzyl bromide; D005466:Fluorocarbons