PREPARATION AND PURIFICATION OF MALONALDEHYDE SODIUM-SALT

Malonaldehyde is not commercially available and is generally prepared when required from 1,1,3,3-tetramethoxypropane (TMP). Although sodium malonaldehyde (NaMA) is potentially a stable product that could be preprepared to meet research needs, present procedures either are tedious or have been shown to be inadequate in terms of purity. NaMA was prepared by adding 1 N HCl to TMP, stored at 4 °C for 24 h, and neutralized to pH 8.0 and the moisture removed under vacuum at <40°C. The dry end products were selectively solubilized in anhydrous alcohol and filtered twice through neutral charcoal to remove any color compounds, the ethanol was removed under vacuum, and the residue was lyophilized. Analysis of the lyophilisate by HPLC produced a single peak, shown to be free of methanol and higher polymeric forms by infrared analysis, and its purity was determined to be >98% by NMR. The procedure developed is an improvement over previous methods, has an overall recovery of about 60%, and provides a product of sufficient purity for mutagenicity testing and as a standard for the thiobarbituric acid test (TBA) commonly used for assessing the autoxidation of fats and oils. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.