Abstract: The determination of major carbonyl compounds in mainstream cigarette smoke by rapid column high performance liquid chromatography was investigated. The cigarette smoke was collected using a Cambridge filter treated with acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, acrolein, propionaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, 2-butanone and butyraldehyde were extracted from the Cambridge filter with 50 mL of 2% pyridine acetonitrile solution. The carbonyl compounds in samples were separated on a ZORBAX Stable Bound rapid column (50 mm×4.6 mm, 1.8 μm) in approximately seven minutes and then determined by high performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector. The average recoveries  were in the range of 89.1% to 99.2% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were generally below 6.0%. The eight carbonyl compounds in the mainstream smoke of five brands of cigarettes were determined using this method. This method is faster, simpler and consumes less solvent. It is suitable for rapid analysis of carbonyl compounds in mainstream cigarette smoke.

Key words: carbonyl compounds, cigarette, dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) , mainstream smoke, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)