New determination method for sulfonation degree of phthalic anhydride by RP-HPLC.

A novel method was developed to monitor the reaction process and evaluate the sulfonation level in the sulfonation of phthalic anhydride by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The product peak was identified in chromatograms through product analysis and by comparing its retention time with that of standard compounds. By comparing the hydrolysis and alcoholysis methods, optimized pretreatment of the sample was found for RP-HPLC.