Analysis of Caffeine by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - Caffeine: Chemistry, Analysis, Function and Effects - page 103

d n 0 t 2 n g | 3

CHAPTER 7
Analysis of Caffeine by Liquid
Chromatography-Mass
Spectrometry

DANIEL PERRONE 1 AND ADRIANA FARAH* 1,2

1 Laborat ´ rio de Bioqu´mica Nutricional e de Alimentos, Departamento de
Bioqu´mica, Instituto de Qu´mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil; 2 Laborat ´ rio de Qu´mica e Bioatividade de Alimentos & N ´ cleo de
Pesquisa em Caf´ Prof. Luiz Carlos Trugo, Instituto de Nutri¸˜o,
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*E-mail: [e-mail]

7.1 Introduction
Caffeine, 1,3,7-trimethyl-xanthine, is a purine-based xanthine alkaloid
(Figure 7.1). Caffeine was first isolated from coffee in 1820 by the German
chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge and in 1821 by a team of French chemists,
Robiquet, Pelletier and Caventou. Pelletier first conceived the word ''caf´ine''
from the French word caf´ (coffee) and this term became the English word
''caffeine''. Caffeine has been the subject of extensive research for its wide
occurrence in nature and long history of use. Over 60 plant species contain
caffeine and it has been suggested that its consumption dates back from the
Stone Age (Barone and Roberts 1996). Nowadays, caffeine is one of the most
widely consumed substances in the world and probably the psychoactive
substance with the largest consumption among humans. Caffeine has become