Gas-Liquid Chromatography of Trimethylsilyl Derivatives of Abscisic Acid and Other Plant Hormones

Abstract

This paper describes a new method for qualitative and quantitative assay of abscisic acid and other acidic plant hormones, such as indoleacetic acid and the gibberellins, by the gas-liquid chromatography of their trimethylsilyl derivatives. Interfering substances in plant extracts were largely removed by preliminary column chromatography with carbon-celite and elution of the abscisic acid with 60% acetone, permitting direct determination of abscisic acid by gas-liquid chromatography using a flame ionization detector. (A level of 0.65 mg/kg fr wt was found.) This method enables measurement of amounts of abscisic acid as low as 0.025 μg. In impure samples collected by gas-liquid chromatography the abscisic acid recovered could be measured quantitatively by use of its ultraviolet absorption maximum at 260 mμ.