Determination of Creatine, Creatinine, and Related Compounds in Urine by Means of Paper Chromatography.

Abstract

A procedure for the identification and detn. of creatine, creatinine, glycocyamidine and glycocy-amine is presented. Following resolution by paper chro-matography, the developed chromatograms are heated to 100[degree]C for 1 hr. to dehydrate creatine and glycocyamine in situ to creatinine and glycocyamidine, respectively. The latter compounds and others of similar structure give an orange color on treatment with the Jaffe reagent (alkaline picrate). The Voges-Proskauer reaction (alkaline diacetyl) for creatine was also investigated and found suitable but less precise. Rf values in water-saturated solns. of butanol, phenol, and lutidine-collidine (50-50), respectively, were given as follows: creatine, 0.08, 0.85, and 0.24; creatinine, 0.33, 0.91, and 0.56; glycocyamine, 0.07, 0.66, and 0.28; and glycocyamidine, 0.3, 0.89, and 0.52. The chromatographic method possesses the advantage that creatine and creatinine can be detd. independently and directly rather than by a differential procedure as in the conventional methods.