Simultaneous determination of 2-methoxyphenol, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 4′-hydroxy-3′-methoxyacetophenone in urine by capillary gas chromatography

A method for the simultaneous determination of 2-methoxyphenol, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 4′-hydroxy-3′-methoxyacetophenone in urine has been described. The metabolites were analyzed after enzymatic hydrolysis and extraction on octyl (C8) cartridges by using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and a 5/95% copolymer of diphenyl–poly(dimethylsiloxane) capillary column. Methoxyphenols were well separated within 12 min. Recovery was over 90% in the range from 0.5 to 20 μg/ml; the detection limit was varying in the range of 0.05–0.11 μg/ml. The relative standard deviations and the accuracy were in the range of 3.1–15.5 and 2.4–16.0%, respectively.