Clinical Chemistry, Vol 20, 645-648, Copyright © 1974 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Characterization of the Periodate Oxidation of Glycerol and Related Compounds, and Application toward Determination of Serum Triglyceride Concentrations

¹ Department of Pathology, Orange County Medical Center, Orange, Calif. 92668; and the University of California, Irvine, Calif.

The periodate oxidation of glycerol was examined to see if it could be quantitated from its yield of an equimolar amount of formaldehyde. End-product studies, carried out with glycerol and related compounds by an automated method, indicated that oxidation was almost completed within the time span of the analysis. Kinetic studies at pH 4.0 with excess substrate indicated pseudo-first-order kinetics with respect to periodate consumption. The rate constant for glycerol is 57 x 10^-2 min^-1; the reaction with glycolaldehyde was too rapid to measure. These results indicate that it is the initial reaction of periodate with glycerol that is rate-limiting instead of the secondary reaction with glycolaldehyde, and that these reactions occur concomitantly. We conclude that it is extremely unlikely that any practicable glycerol analysis can be based on the equimolar formation of formaldehyde.

Submitted on February 8, 1974
Accepted on March 25, 1974