Derivatives of 1-naphthyl ethylenediamine dihydrochloride for standardization of direct-bilirubin assays done with the Technicon "SMAC".

The Jendrassik--Groff assay for direct bilirubin was adapted for analysis rates of 150/h on the Technicon "SMAC" continuous-flow analyzer. This requires development of a standard that is compatible with the other 19 channels on this analyzer. N-1-Naphthyl ethylenediamine dihydrochloride has been used for standardization of direct bilirubin assays, but we found it to be unsuitable because values for potassium are falsely elevated when potassium is determined with a valinomycin ion-selective electrode. This interference can be eliminated by alkylating the aliphatic amine group in the standard. The resulting compounds undergo the coupling reaction in the same way as the original compound and function equally well as standards for the direct bilirubin reaction. The only limitation of these analogs is their decreased solubility at physiological pH in some cases. Thus only certain alkyl groups are suitable.