Chiral Derivatization of Hydroxycarboxylic Acids Using 2,4,6-Trichlorobenzoyl Chloride as a Highly Efficient Regioselective Esterification Reagent for Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

We report the application of 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoyl chloride (often referred to as Yamaguchi esterification reagent) for the selective derivatization of the carboxylic group for GC-MS with the sample preparation method optimized for GC-MS analysis. The reagent was shown to be capable of selectively turning the carboxylic group into a reaction center, i.e., anhydride, of which the further reaction was directed to a near complete formation of required esters by unique steric and electronic effects of the reagent. Using the developed method, the chiral separation of hydroxycarboxylic acids by GC-MS using non-chiral columns was successfully demonstrated.