Folin's reagent explained

Folin's reagent or sodium 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate is a chemical reagent used as a derivatizing agent to measure levels of amines and amino acids.^[1] The reagent reacts with them in alkaline solution to produce a fluorescent material that can be easily detected.^[2]

This should not be confused with Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, that is used to detect phenolic compounds.

The Folin reagent can be used with an acidic secondary reagent to distinguish MDMA and related compounds from PMMA and related compounds.^[3]

Substance	Reaction
MDMA	Pink
MDE	No Reaction
MDA	Yellow
BZP	Orange to red
TFMPP	Pinkish red
Methylone	No reaction
Methamphetamine	Pink
Amphetamine	Light orange
PMA	Light Yellow
PMMA	Light orange
Ketamine	No reaction
Mescaline	No reaction
Cocaine	No reaction
Aspirin	No reaction
Sugar	No reaction

See also

• Pill testing
• Sullivan reaction
• Dille–Koppanyi reagent
• Froehde reagent
• Liebermann reagent
• Mandelin reagent
• Marquis reagent
• Mecke reagent
• Simon's reagent
• Zwikker reagent

Notes and References

1. Saurina J, Hernández-Cassou S . Determination of amino acids by ion-pair liquid chromatography with post-column derivatization using 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate . Journal of Chromatography A . 676 . 2 . 311–9 . 1994 . 7921184 . 10.1016/0021-9673(94)80431-1.
2. Kobayashi Y, Kubo H, Kinoshita T . Fluorometric determination of guanidino compounds by new postcolumn derivatization system using reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography . Anal. Biochem. . 160 . 2 . 392–8 . 1987 . 3578768 . 10.1016/0003-2697(87)90066-2.
3. Web site: Folin Reagent Testing Kit . Dancesafe . June 2015 . 8 August 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150911051558/https://dancesafe.org/product/folin-reagent-new/ . 11 September 2015 . dead .