Analysis of A,B, E,and F prostaglandins as pentafluorobenzyl esters by electron-capture gas-liquid chromatography

A new and sensitive method is described for the simultaneous analysis of a mixture containing PGE₁, PGE₂, PGF_1α, and PGF_2α by electron-capture gas-liquid chromatography. During derivatization of the mixture, PGE₁ and PGE₂ were converted to PGB₁ and PGB₂, respectively, yielding a mixture of PGB₁, PGB₂, PGF_1α, and PGF_2α trimethylsilyl ether pentafluorobenzyl esters. Gas chromatographic resolution of all four derivatives is sufficient for quantitation of each prostaglandin. The A prostaglandins were analyzed by similar conversion to the respective B prostaglandin derivatives. Minimum detection limits for the B and F prostaglandin derivatives were 10 pg and 1 pg, respectively. Samples of rabbit kidney medulla were incubated and analyzed for A, B, E, and F prostaglandins. The results indicate that the method is capable of high recovery and reproducibility.