Pyrolysis GLC identification of food and drug ingredients. I. Saccharin.

Pyrolysis gas-liquid chromatography, used in the qualitative analysis of saccharin, has provided reproducible pyrograms which permit direct characterization of these sweetners in a variety of commerical saccharin tablets and diet beverages. This method was used also to identify the salt, after conversion to the free imide, in a commercial multivitamin product. The tablet analysis required isolation by solvent extraction. Analyses were carried out on quantities ranging from 1 to 100 mug. The sensitivity of the method could be increased by addition of a pure sample of the compound sought to the unknown.