Quality Control Analysis of Plant Growth Regulator Forchlorfenuron by Reserved Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A reliable reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed fro simultaneous determined of plant growth regulator forchlorfenuron, as well as its related impurities 4-amino-2-chloropyridine and N,N´-diphenylurea. Separation was achieved on a Kromasil C₁₈ column by using methanol: water (60 : 40 v/v) as the mobile phase and detection was operated by UV absorption at a wavelength of 254 nm. The identification for all interested substances was performed by photodiode-array detection and mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography. The results indicated that the relative standard divisions for determination of forchlorfenuron, 4-amino-2-chloropyridine and N,N´-diphenylurea were 0.18–0.29, 0.54–0.78 and 0.33–1.50%, with the recoveries of 99.59–101.99, 98.77–104.06 and 97.98–103.49%, respectively. This method is found to be superior to previous gas or high performance liquid chromatographic methods and to be an attractive choice for the quality control of forchlorfenuron.