A novel derivatization method for the determination of ethyl carbamate in spirits by liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric detection

A novel derivatization method for the ethyl carbamate (EC) determination is introduced, representing a significantly more promising approach to the only previously described and time-demanding EC derivatization with the expensive 9–xanthydrol agent. The presented derivatization procedure utilizes a 4–(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde (p-DMAB) reagent to form a derivative with a recovery of 99.4 %. The quantitative EC reaction with p-DMAB proceeds within five minutes without any considerable by-products and the resulting derivative was confirmed by mass spectrometry. The derivatization procedure led to the development of a new chromatographic method with spectrophotometric detection at 420 nm for EC determination in spirits. The achieved quantification limit of 582.5 µg L–1 complies with the recommendation of the European Commission from 2010, demonstrating its practical use in food safety control. Within the optimization of detection, the electrochemical behaviour was included to reveal the possibility of amperometric detection. Compared to the method used so far, the proposed approach significantly reduces the cost and time required to screen this potential carcinogen and could lead to the manufacture of commercial colorimetric assay kits detecting hazardous EC concentration levels.