Stabilities of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, bisphenol F diglycidyl ether, and their derivatives under controlled conditions analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), bisphenol F diglycydyl ether (BFDGE), and their related compounds are widely used as precursors in production of epoxy resins. The high reactivity of these compounds makes the development of analytical methodologies that ensure appropriate metrological accuracy crucial. Consequently, we aimed to determine whether and to what extent the composition of the solution and storage conditions affect the stability of selected BADGE and BFDGE derivatives. The stabilities of these compounds were studied using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (HPLC-ESI–MS/MS). The chromatographic method elaborated here has allowed for separation of the analytes in time shorter than 6 min, for both methanol and acetonitrile-based mobile phases. The obtained calibration curves for all analytes were linear in the range tested. The values of limit of detection (LODs) were in the range of 0.91–2.7 ng/mL, while values of limit of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of 2.7–5.7 ng/mL. The chosen experimental conditions were compared in terms of the content of organic solvent in solution, storage temperature, and time. Our results show that the content of BADGE, BADGE·HCl, BFDGE, three-ring NOGE decreased with increasing water content (> 40% v/v). For BADGE and three-ring NOGE, significant changes in concentration were noted as early as 24 h after the test solutions had been prepared. In addition, a reduction in the storage temperature (4 to − 20 °C) reduced the rate of transformation of the monitored analytes. Our study will increase quality control in future research and may increase the reliability of the obtained results. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00216-019-02016-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.