Acylation, an alternative to silylation, is the conversion of compounds that contain active hydrogens (-OH, -SH and -NH) into esters, thioesters, and amides through the action of a carboxylic acid or derivative. The presence of a carbonyl group adjacent to the halogenated carbons enhances electron capture detector (ECD) response. Acylation has many benefits:

• It improves the stability of compounds by protecting unstable groups.
• It may confer volatility on substances such as carbohydrates or amino acids, which have so many polar groups that they are non-volatile and normally decompose on heating.
• It assists in separations not possible with underivatized compounds.
• Compounds are detectable at very low levels with an ECD.

Hydrogen chloride-1-butanol is a reagent utilized to form fragmentation-directing derivatives for GC/MS analysis.

Hydrogen chloride - 1-butanol solution has been used for butylation of amino acids during blood sample analysis for determination of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid using mass spectrometry.

Reagent for the esterification of amino acids and carnites for GC-MS analysis.

LiChropur is a trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany