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Estimation of Phenylpyruvic Acid

Abstract

THERE are difficulties in the quantitative estimation of phenylpyruvic acid in urine. If ferric chloride or iron alum is added directly to the urine, a more or less copious precipitation of phosphates occurs, making accurate measurement of the characteristic green colour impossible. Penrose and Quastel1 over-came this difficulty by adding 2 : 4 dinitrophenyl hydrazine to the urine and measuring the red colour produced with sodium hydroxide (cf. ref. 2). This assumes that, as is the case with normal urines, no ketone body other than phenylpyruvic acid is present in significant amounts.

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BERRY, J., WOOLF, L. Estimation of Phenylpyruvic Acid. Nature 169, 202–203 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/169202a0

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