The goals of this project are
1) Elucidation of mechanisms of complex reactions of orthophthalaldehyde (OPA) with amino acids and other nucleophiles. This serves for ptimalization of biochemical analyses based on rational development of reliable, fast and well-reproducible procedures for determination of amino acids.

2) Contribution to the understanding of interactions of OPA and its derivatives with primary amino groups and thiolate anions of some peptides to establish chemical principles of biocide activity of OPA. This will allow development of optimum conditions for new type of disinfection applications.

3) Elucidation of the role of intramolecular interaction of two carbonyl or azomethine groups and their position on an aromatic benzenoid ring to demonstrate, how such interaction is reflected by their oxidation-reduction and acidobasic properties, spectra and reactivity. This will enable a formulation of mere general rules, based on correlation of electrochemical data with other physical-chemical techniques and with quantum chemistry calculations.