A sensitive chromatographic determination of hydrazines by naphthalene-2,3-dialdehyde derivatization

A new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the sensitive simultaneous determination of hydrazine (Hy), monomethylhydrazine (MMH) and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) based upon the derivatization of hydrazines with naphthalene-2,3-dialdehyde and the separation of the derivatives on Zorbax Eclipse AAA column in a single chromatographic run under acidic conditions (pH 2.4) was developed. Hydrazine and monomethylhydrazine derivatives were found to be strongly fluorescent at lambda(ex)=273 nm, lambda(em)=500 nm. It was shown that UDMH derivative can be detected as non-fluorescent hydrazone at 290 nm by UV-detection. Limits of detection were 0.05 mu g L-1 for Hy and MMH, and 1 mu g L-1 for UDMH for the injection volume of 100 mu L. The method was validated for water sample analysis. It proved to be selective, accurate and precise with the supplementary advantage of the simple and rapid sample preparation.