CHARACTERIZATION OF BRIGHTENERS IN DETERGENTS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY UTRAVIOLET FLUORESCENCE AND 3-DIMENSIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A method has been developed for the identification of unknown brighteners in detergents by a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/mass spectrometry (MS)/ultraviolet (UV)/fluorescence system with MS/MS capability. Ten brighteners from five groups-stilbene, biphenyl stilbene, pyrazoline, oxazole, and coumarin derivatives-were separated on a C-8 reverse-phase HPLC column. The UV and fluorescence detectors positively located the brightener peaks and differentiated between trans and cis isomers separated by the chromatographic system. ton-spray (IS)/MS and IS/MS/MS spectra were then used to identify the structure of unknown brighteners in detergent products. An HPLC with a diode-array detector provided a quick identification check and accurate quantitative data for known brighteners, even on overlapping peaks.