Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a catalyst for the formation of dansylhydrazone derivatives

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA) is presented as a new, efficient catalyst in the pre-column fluorescent derivatization of the 3-ketosteroid budesonide with dansylhydrazine and compared to the commonly used catalyst trifluoroacetic acid. With TFMSA the derivatization reaction may be carried out at room temperature, with a considerably higher reaction rate compared to previously used acids. The chromatograms also show that TFMSA results in less formation of spurious peaks from the reagent. Derivatization of steroid standard solutions ranging from 0.5 to 64 mu M could be performed using identical reaction conditions.