Abstract
In 1900, Fabinyi (1) investigated a colored complex which resulted when acetone was added to salicylaldehyde in strong alkali, and found it to he dihydroxydibenzene acetone. A qualitative test based on this reaction was introduced by Protnmer (2) in 1905. In 1916, Caonka (3) suggested a clinical method for the determination of acetone based on this reaction. |In 1926, Behre and Benedict (4) reported a colorimetric method for the determination of ketone bodies in blood and urine which made use of this condensation of salicylaldehyde with acetone in strong sodium hydroxide with the resulting formation of a yellow to orange complex. This complex could then be measured colorimetrically. In 1928, Behre (5) suggested a semi-quantitative simplification of this method, in which the acetone was distilled from a test tube onto a cotton stopper on which a small amount of the reagents had been placed.