Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of tiopronin in human blood using acrylic acid esters as a derivatization reagent for the thiol group.

A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for determining tiopronin, which has a thiol group, in human blood has been described. To prevent the oxidative degradation of tiopronin in the blood, its thiol group was immediately protected by treatment with isobutyl acrylate, which reacted readily with tiopronin in a 0.1 M Na2HPO4 solution (pH 9.1). The reaction was quantitative within 30 min. The blood sample was deproteinized and purified by a combination of liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction. Finally, the carboxyl moiety of the ester adduct was derivatized to the pentafluorobenzyl ester. The derivatives of tiopronin and the internal standard were analysed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The precision of the method was satisfactory, and the calibration curve had good linearity in the concentration range investigated. The limit of determination of tiopronin in blood was estimated to be ca. 1 ng/ml.