Chromatography Forum

Hello everyone,

I'm testing samples to detect monosaccharides, organic acids and alcohols produced during the experiment(s). Unfortunately, the microorganisms are capable of producing some of the alcohols which are commonly suggested as internal standards. Can anyone please suggest alternative alcohols which can be used as internal standard in HPLC standards?

From what I understand, the microorganisms can produce the following alcohols:
1. Ethanol (major product)
2. Isopropanol
3. 1-Propanol
4. 2-Propanol
5. 1,2-Propanediol
6. 1,3-Propanediol
7. sec-Butanol
8. iso-Butanol
9. 1-Butanol

Since this rules out some of the commonly used internal standards, I would be grateful if someone can suggest other alternatives I can use.

Thanks,

3-monochloropropanediol (I test for it in HVP's via GC/MS)
1,3 or 2,3 dichloropropanol
Ethylene glycol?

Thank you for the suggestions. The first few options you suggested weren't available in the lab. However, I did find ethylene glycol and have started using it for analysis. Not sure how good of an internal standard it is for ethanol though.