Abstract: In order to improve the detection speed and reduce the cost of testing,a chromogenic reaction of 23 carcinogenic aromatic amines with guaiacol ,which not completely depend on large scale chromatography instrument ,was developed . According to the structural features of aromatic amines and mechanism of diazo-coupling reaction, all terms of diazo-coupling reaction process were studied and optimized effectively. The optimal conditions were obtained as follows: at room temperature, pH of diazo-reaction was 2.56, pH of coupling reaction was 10 -11, diazo-reaction time was 10 min, diazo-reaction products were stable during 180min. Linearity was excellent in the concentration range of 1-50mg/L. This method could be effectively applied to textiles in qualitative screening test of 23 carcinogenic aromatic amines.

Key words: carcinogenic aromatic amines, chromogenic method, diazo-coupling reaction, guaiacol