The response of the electron-capture detector to organic compounds is poorly defined, and the steroids are no exception to this observation. For those steroids which are naturally electron-capturing, the structures of the electrophores will be defined. Other steroids can be made electron-capturing by the formation of appropriate derivatives. Some new or infrequently used reagents for this purpose (flophemesyl ethers,t-buflophemesyl ethers, pentafluorophenylhydrazone derivatives and halogensubstituted aromatic boronic acids) are described.
